Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,271,140 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 935,209 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.9% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,643,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $2.70 on Friday, reaching $470.38. The company had a trading volume of 15,271,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,836. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $417.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $416.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

About Microsoft

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.