Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,821 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,015,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $591.95.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.95 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $426.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
More Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.
Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).
Further Reading

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