Elwood Capital Partners LP Invests $8.21 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Elwood Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,488 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $8,214,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.1% of Elwood Capital Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.70 on Wednesday, hitting $472.62. 16,371,327 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,517,567. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $423.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $417.84. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $475.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value 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. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.