Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Southpoint Capital Advisors LP

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 500,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.1% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $215,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $412.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $432.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.21. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.