Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 600,392 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 8,889 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Private Advisor Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $253,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $391.85. 18,959,931 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,169,050. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.89.

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.