Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s Largest Position

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,787,855 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 657,032 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.9% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Microsoft worth $15,084,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 63,439 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 323.3% in the 4th quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 61,800 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,049,000 after buying an additional 47,200 shares in the last quarter. Alphadyne Asset Management LP grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Alphadyne Asset Management LP now owns 266,793 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $112,453,000 after acquiring an additional 23,793 shares during the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,045,000. Finally, AmeriServ Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $1,435,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $478.04. The stock had a trading volume of 15,377,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,260. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $430.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.