Magellan Asset Management Ltd Has $654.24 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,552,169 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 171,683 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 7.2% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $654,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.59.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $470.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G 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 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $417.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $416.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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