Prospector Partners LLC Acquires 148 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,065 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elios Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $1,873,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,236.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 11,638 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,008,000 after buying an additional 10,767 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,982 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,877,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $432.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

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.