Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,294,483 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 253,876 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.4% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,278,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $428.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $429.54 and a 200-day moving average of $425.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.