Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,798,076 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 749,300 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.8% of Jennison Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.31% of Microsoft worth $9,609,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9 %

MSFT stock traded down $3.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $375.39. 35,114,161 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,581,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $367.31 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $405.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $419.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

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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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.86.

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.