8,280 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,280 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,787,934,000 after buying an additional 1,408,374 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,804,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,507,320. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $480.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $428.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.