Silphium Asset Management Ltd Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Silphium Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,824 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.2% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 172,984 shares of the software giant's stock worth $73,178,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares during the period. Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 64,951 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $27,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,715,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Microsoft by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 818,188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $344,866,000 after acquiring an additional 226,410 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 29,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,632,000 after purchasing an additional 10,976 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $438.00 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day moving average price is $388.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.61.

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 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

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.

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