Define Financial LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Define Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,005 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.3% of Define Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Truefg LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truefg LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 2.1% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,655,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.