Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s Largest Position

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.8% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective 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. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,578 shares of company stock worth $40,553,696. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $442.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $364.13 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $421.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.