Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 52.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,170 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 61,948 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Chicago Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie raised their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $5.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $399.12. The stock had a trading volume of 30,277,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,971,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The stock's fifty day moving average is $415.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

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.