Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lessened by Veritas Asset Management LLP

Veritas Asset Management LLP lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,010,982 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 219,126 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.9% of Veritas Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Veritas Asset Management LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $847,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd 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. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $9.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $435.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,732,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,356,348. The business's 50 day moving average is $384.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.01. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.