Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 76.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,874 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,462 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s shares.

Microsoft stock down 2.0%

Shares of MSFT opened at $415.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $435.57 and a two hundred day moving average price of $422.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23, and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. it has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% year over year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect Microsoft Co. to record 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft dividend announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15. This represents an annualized dividend of $3.00 and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analysts on Wall Street are forecasting an increase

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72, according to MarketBeat.com.

Read our latest research report on Microsoft

Insider buying and selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC’s website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s shares.

Microsoft profile

(Free report)

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 consumer office services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, on-premise Office licensing, and other office services.

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