BIT Capital GmbH Has $8.32 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BIT Capital GmbH lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 823.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,731 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 17,594 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.7% of BIT Capital GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. BIT Capital GmbH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,436,347 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,026,920,000 after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $3,370,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,886,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 732.9% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 9,987 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,210,000 after acquiring an additional 8,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,944,306 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,326,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $463.87. The company had a trading volume of 14,135,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,449,429. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $411.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.