China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,705 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 14,778 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $61,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Manuka Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $672,000. Five Pine Wealth Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,102 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 43,835 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,476,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 32,262 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 2.5 %
NASDAQ MSFT traded down $9.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $380.75. 5,999,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,468,536. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $419.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.59.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
If a company's CEO, COO, and CFO were all selling shares of their stock, would you want to know? MarketBeat just compiled its list of the twelve stocks that corporate insiders are abandoning. Complete the form below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
