Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Raised by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,829,031 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,408,374 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of Microsoft worth $16,787,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during 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. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 7.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $470.92. 15,358,293 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,510,162. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $473.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $420.97 and a 200 day moving average of $417.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.