Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $31.71 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 73,685 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $31,707,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.9% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $431.44 and its 200 day moving average is $423.41. 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 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.