Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,436,347 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 6,639 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 7.4% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,026,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,370,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,886,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 732.9% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 9,987 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,210,000 after buying an additional 8,788 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,944,306 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,326,708,000 after buying an additional 1,023,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $374,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $463.87. 14,135,414 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,449,429. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $411.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $415.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.