Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Bensler LLC

Bensler LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,172 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,240 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.7% of Bensler LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Microsoft Company 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.