Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Buys 159,439 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,006,368 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,439 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $754,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Merchants Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 98,876 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,180,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 108,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $40,719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares during the period. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 97,710 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,793 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 9,212 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,464,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $394.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $303.40 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $414.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.