Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Geode Capital Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.5% of Geode Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.26% of Microsoft worth $70,720,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $470.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $417.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $416.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 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.

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