Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Lingohr Asset Management GmbH

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,159 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of Lingohr Asset Management GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,105 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,367,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 927,307 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $390,860,000 after acquiring an additional 54,406 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,498,412 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,053,081,000 after acquiring an additional 531,903 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,809 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in Microsoft by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 15,015 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,329,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $458.18. 7,548,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,535,760. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $406.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $414.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.