Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,555 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $479.14. 15,576,985 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,515,567. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $430.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.94. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business'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 directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.