Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s 3rd Largest Position

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 753,429 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 88,677 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.1% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $317,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $4.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $458.87. The stock had a trading volume of 21,313,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,562,482. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. 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 business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last quarter. 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.