Copeland Capital Management LLC Has $23.72 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Copeland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,271 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,858 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $11.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $378.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,606,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,523,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $405.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.59.

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.