Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,250,135 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,385,041 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.7% of Legal & General Group Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.69% of Microsoft worth $21,601,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%
Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,485,191. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $425.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.42.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of 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 upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Microsoft Company Profile
(
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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