Zacks Investment Management Buys 98,293 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,163,767 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,293 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.3% of Zacks Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $500,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.75 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $431.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.