Quest Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,935 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,299,767,000 after buying an additional 1,938,304 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $430.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.55. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.