AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,392,750 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 45,508 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 7.6% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $522,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $524.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $491.72. 3,387,001 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,989,053. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $454.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.