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

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,152 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $388.61 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $418.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.36. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $381.00 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

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.