Nutshell Asset Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 35,870 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 35,870 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $15,119,000. Microsoft comprises 9.6% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,787,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408,374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.25 on Thursday, reaching $478.87. The company had a trading volume of 18,905,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,503,895. The stock's 50 day moving average is $423.22 and its 200-day moving average is $417.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, 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 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.37.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.