World Equity Group Inc. Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 96.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,594 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 30,253 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,007,285,000 after buying an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Westpark Capital began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.89.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $1.22 on Wednesday, reaching $395.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,165,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,187,089. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 moving average of $384.02 and a 200-day moving average of $411.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.26. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.