Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,831,468 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 48,860 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.1% of Capital International Investors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Capital International Investors owned about 1.03% of Microsoft worth $32,386,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 471.4% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,812,933 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,366,153,000 after buying an additional 4,795,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $428.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.42.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.