Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,384,811 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 192,464 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.3% of FIL Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.11% of Microsoft worth $3,534,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 40,586 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,464,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Allocation Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 13.2% during the third quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $474.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,804,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,485,191. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $480.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $425.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.