GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 53.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,337,902 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,196,379 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of GQG Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. GQG Partners LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,671,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triple Frond Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Triple Frond Partners LLC now owns 278,458 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $117,370,000 after acquiring an additional 26,314 shares during the period. Prospect Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,867,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 294.6% during the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 133,436 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $55,005,000 after buying an additional 99,618 shares during the period. Dudley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC now owns 33,086 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,946,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,836,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $461.97. 16,554,885 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,723,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $409.00 and a 200-day moving average of $415.04. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents 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 worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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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