Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 444,116 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 38,982 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.8% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $191,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,957,770 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,018,128,000 after buying an additional 57,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,912,402,000 after buying an additional 251,408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $12.85 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $447.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,305,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,021,381. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $431.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.66.

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.