Allianz SE Buys Shares of 339,592 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Allianz SE bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 339,592 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $144,066,000. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Allianz SE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $7,832,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338,433 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $142,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,182 shares in the last quarter. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV now owns 1,828 shares of the software giant's stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Tsai Capital Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Tsai Capital Corp now owns 9,797 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 19,435 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,192,000 after acquiring an additional 3,171 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.70 on Friday, hitting $470.38. 15,268,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,465,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $473.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $415.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $416.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.