Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Nexus Investment Management ULC's 7th Largest Position

Nexus Investment Management ULC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,650 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 15,976 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.6% of Nexus Investment Management ULC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Nexus Investment Management ULC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 348.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $894,426,000 after acquiring an additional 9,324,182 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $430.52.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $414.58. The company had a trading volume of 16,755,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,959,389. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.