ZEGA Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,536 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $14,448,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.6% of ZEGA Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,504,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $409.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.04. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.