Exane Asset Management Acquires Shares of 1,900 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Exane Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,900 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $799,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.6% of Exane Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $454.70.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %

MSFT traded up $3.16 on Friday, reaching $430.16. 11,855,285 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,617,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $433.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $416.36 and its 200-day moving average is $398.93. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.