Capital Wealth Planning LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,367,544 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 108,869 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.3% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $576,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,898,314,000 after buying an additional 324,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $387.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.

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