Algebris UK Ltd Invests $1.17 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Algebris UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,865 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,166,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $459.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,957,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,508,213. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $407.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $414.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.