Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,883,743 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 111,500 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.8% of Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,424,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild Redb downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $632.34.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $478.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $504.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $502.05. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is 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.