TCW Group Inc. Acquires 101,899 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,414,251 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 101,899 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of TCW Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $632,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,591,126,000 after acquiring an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $3.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $435.15. The company had a trading volume of 18,818,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,548,438. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $422.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $494.72.

About Microsoft

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.