Katamaran Capital LLP Acquires Shares of 3,468 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Katamaran Capital LLP purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,468 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,000. Microsoft comprises about 1.9% of Katamaran Capital LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in 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 buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT stock traded down $3.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,787,782 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,485,135. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $480.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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.