Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,851 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,749 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $474.96. The stock had a trading volume of 16,787,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,485,135. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% 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 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

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.