StoneX Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,102 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 29,199 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of StoneX Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. StoneX Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in 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 buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,787,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408,374 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Performance
MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,491,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $417.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four 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, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Profile
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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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