Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Castleark Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Castleark Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 35.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 371,994 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,392 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.6% of Castleark Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $185,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 target price (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $675.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. 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 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.