19,987 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Wellington Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought 19,987 shares of Microsoft in Q2 (~$9.94 million), making Microsoft about 13.9% of its portfolio and its largest holding.
• Sell‑side analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $632.34, while individual broker targets range roughly from $600–$675.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently, disposing of 54,100 shares worth about $27.6 million over the past 90 days, and insiders now own just 0.03% of MSFT stock.

Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,987 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $9,941,000. Microsoft makes up about 13.9% of Wellington Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 39.3% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,930,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Melius Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $632.34.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of MSFT opened at $478.53 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $504.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last 90 days. 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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