Permanent Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 65,528 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $27,620,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.6% of Permanent Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $453.13. 21,913,513 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,510,806. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $392.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.14.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.