Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 42.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,988,595 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,185,475 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.0% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,497,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 36,173 shares of the software giant's stock worth $13,579,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 908,778 shares of the software giant's stock worth $341,147,000 after buying an additional 118,107 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the software giant's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,088,472 shares of the software giant's stock worth $408,025,000 after buying an additional 68,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MSFT
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 43,100 shares in the company, 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 have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $522.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $496.85 and its 200 day moving average is $438.29.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.
Microsoft Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

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