Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,762 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.0% of Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price objective (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $524.71.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $496.62. The stock had a trading volume of 11,836,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,679,755. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $465.60 and a 200 day moving average of $424.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $500.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.