Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 722,162 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.0% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $245,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sightline Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Partners raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 1,516 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Fundamental Research set a $298.10 target price on Microsoft and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $377.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $336.96 and a 200 day moving average of $332.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $219.35 and a 1-year high of $378.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

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.