Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 494,836 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $186,078,000. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Family CFO Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 13.6% during the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $306.09 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $413.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $392.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.