DMG Group LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DMG Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,063 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.4% of DMG Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. DMG Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Optas LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 25,001 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,996,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 44,418 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 199.7% during the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 107,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,356,000 after buying an additional 71,769 shares in the last quarter. Seascape Capital Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 2,908 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,999,000. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,272,990. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,848 shares of company stock worth $16,635,227 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $313.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $322.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 29.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Macquarie upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $290.00 to $348.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $332.00 to $340.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

Microsoft Company Profile

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.