Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $1.52 Billion Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,603,020 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 251,800 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,518,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $4.55 on Friday, hitting $391.85. 18,959,931 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,203,147. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $384.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.41. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.13.

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.