Cantillon Capital Management LLC Buys 7,129 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,343,400 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 7,129 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.4% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $566,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $387.20 and a 200-day moving average of $411.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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