Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623,471 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 34,769 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 10.2% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Microsoft were worth $262,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $463.87. 14,135,414 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,449,429. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company's 50 day moving average price is $411.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $415.62.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. 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.