Sarasin & Partners LLP Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,121,565 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 144,101 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 8.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $796,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $3.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $506.67. 9,373,173 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,588,720. The company has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $508.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $471.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.