Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 848,018 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.0% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $357,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, 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 value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

MSFT traded up $2.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $472.75. The stock had a trading volume of 16,447,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,503,282. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $473.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $419.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.09. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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.