Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,846 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,946 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.2% of Centre Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Centre Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $3,035,987,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%
NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $495.94. 33,955,963 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,627,079. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $446.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.75. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $499.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $521.14.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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