111 Capital Makes New $17.19 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

111 Capital purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,776 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $17,187,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.6% of 111 Capital's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $565.00 price target (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $477.40 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $483.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average price is $437.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $420.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

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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