Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 2,178 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 272,855 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,178 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.4% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $115,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $462.95. The company had a trading volume of 7,888,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company's fifty day moving average is $410.44 and its 200-day moving average is $415.29. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.