Capital International Ltd. CA Acquires 4,818 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Capital International Ltd. CA raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 307,156 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,818 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.3% of Capital International Ltd. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $129,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $565.00 price objective (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

MSFT traded up $5.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $480.12. The stock had a trading volume of 6,839,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,481,646. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $428.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.62, a P/E/G 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 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.