Country Trust Bank Has $183 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Country Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 434,167 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 8,202 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.6% of Country Trust Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Country Trust Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $183,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.08 on Tuesday, hitting $395.16. 15,761,260 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,335,764. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $408.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $419.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.