Caxton Associates LLP Has $347.16 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Caxton Associates LLP increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2,752.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 697,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 673,460 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.8% of Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $347,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,376,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 8.9% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,930,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two equities research 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, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $632.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

MSFT stock opened at $478.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $504.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Microsoft 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.