Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,145,256 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 32,584 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $904,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.89.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.3%

MSFT traded up $6.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $478.87. 18,905,074 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,507,291. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, 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 $480.37. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $423.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $417.84. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.