SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Invests $6.15 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,300 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,153,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $408.43 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.