Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Consulta Ltd

Consulta Ltd grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 375,000 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 10.4% of Consulta Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Consulta Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $158,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $480.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $430.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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