Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lifted by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,153 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.0% of River Global Investors LLP's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. River Global Investors LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.94. 19,864,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. 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 quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $391.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Company 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.