Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Has $36.90 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,555 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Soundwatch Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC now owns 3,218 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the software giant's stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 16,273 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,859,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 561.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 993,452 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $418,740,000 after acquiring an additional 843,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 6,516 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% 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, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT traded down $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $428.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.58. 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

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.