Uptick Partners LLC Buys 1,741 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Uptick Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,995 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.6% of Uptick Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Uptick Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $426.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $434.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

View Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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About Microsoft

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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