Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Buys New Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 8,008 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,375,000. Microsoft comprises 1.5% of Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $408.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $425.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.