Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Acquires New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 132,213 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $55,728,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations' investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $467.68. The company had a trading volume of 20,083,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,471,689. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $469.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.