Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,993,654 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 162,440 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.0% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $840,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $478.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $432.29 and a 200-day moving average of $419.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.69.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.

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