Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ninety One UK Ltd's Largest Position

Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,556,617 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 147,660 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 7.4% of Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,763,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $6.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $382.19. The stock had a trading volume of 19,648,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,595,340. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50 day moving average is $404.45 and its 200 day moving average is $418.77. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $367.24 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.86.

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.