Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Has $29.78 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 73.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,327 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 33,465 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.8% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $524.11 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $489.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.94. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

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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