Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 276,504 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,370,430 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 276,504 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $997,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during 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 buying an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 7.6 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $30.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $425.40. 58,840,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,314,175. The company's 50 day moving average is $383.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $410.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.