Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,007 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 8,481 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $284,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2%

Microsoft stock traded down $5.60 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $452.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,196,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,549,924. The stock's fifty day moving average is $398.43 and its 200 day moving average is $413.04. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.63.

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.