TCW Group Inc. Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,555,094 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,843 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.8% of TCW Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $669,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,290 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $62,949,000 after purchasing an additional 5,817 shares during the last quarter. Main Line Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the third quarter. Main Line Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 124,974 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $53,776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 5,483 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 11,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,037,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $430.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.24. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

About Microsoft

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.