Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Makes New $265.92 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 630,883 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $265,917,000. Microsoft comprises 6.8% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 107,674 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Entrewealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 38,478 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,218,000 after buying an additional 7,562 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,446 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $120,737,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Microsoft by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,373,027 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,421,424,000 after buying an additional 114,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $458.91. 2,829,818 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,517,713. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $406.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.