Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 630,883 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and 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 investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 107,674 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Entrewealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 24.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,446 shares of the software giant's stock worth $120,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,373,027 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,421,424,000 after purchasing an additional 114,892 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $10.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $460.69. The stock had a trading volume of 20,932,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. The business has a fifty day moving average of $403.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.