Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,758,009 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 37,958 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 8.6% of Egerton Capital UK LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Egerton Capital UK LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $741,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after purchasing an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.30.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's 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 approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.60 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $458.87. The company had a trading volume of 21,313,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,562,482. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $395.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.34. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.
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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
About Microsoft
(
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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