Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lessened by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 669,264 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,169 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.4% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $282,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $435.28 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.07. 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 market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned 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 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.

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