Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Buys 11,931 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 62.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,903 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,931 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.7% of Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Sonen Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the third quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Noble Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.34.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $421.43 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $272.05 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $409.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $373.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.