Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Garrison Point Advisors LLC

Garrison Point Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 110.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,736 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 17,710 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.7% of Garrison Point Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Garrison Point Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth 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. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $3.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $475.45. The stock had a trading volume of 8,107,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,451,343. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.26. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.42.

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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio 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.