Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Narus Financial Partners LLC

Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,019 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in 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 buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $390.86. 3,557,938 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,258,459. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $407.20 and its 200 day moving average is $419.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.