Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,327,049 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 764,157 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.4% of Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.18% of Microsoft worth $5,617,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Money Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 58,206 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,534,000 after buying an additional 8,399 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 27,067 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,409,000 after purchasing an additional 7,036 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $144,066,000. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $7,832,000. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338,433 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $142,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,182 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% 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 worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%
Shares of MSFT traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $472.75. 16,447,494 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,503,282. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $419.01 and a 200 day moving average of $417.09.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 currently 25.66%.
Microsoft Profile
(
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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