Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Purchases 1,195 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 66,776 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.3% of Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $480.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $428.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.