BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,221,076 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 10,381 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.6% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,246,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $12.85 on Tuesday, reaching $447.41. The company had a trading volume of 14,305,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,021,381. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $431.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Microsoft 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.