Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,667,188 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 129,449 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.5% of Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,124,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Harbor Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC now owns 11,873 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,004,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $7,487,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 47,404 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,981,000 after buying an additional 6,806 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 4,816 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $563,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT stock traded down $3.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $449.43. 6,856,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,454,197. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $393.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $412.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.