Generate Investment Management Ltd Buys 14,643 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,798 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 14,643 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.5% of Generate Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Generate Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $527.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $492.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $436.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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