Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 7,095 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Legato Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,651 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,095 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of Legato Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd 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. 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $387.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,232,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,242,474. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $391.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $414.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.