Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 704,658 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 222,665 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.4% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $297,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Price Performance
MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,504,528. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $409.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.04. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 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. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.
Microsoft 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.
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