Inscription Capital LLC Invests $18.12 Million in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 48,266 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $18,119,000. Microsoft accounts for about 2.9% of Inscription Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $6.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $512.20. 7,549,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,218,043. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $481.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $430.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $514.64. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $548.36.

About Microsoft

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.