24,356 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Sovran Advisors LLC

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 24,356 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $10,124,000. Microsoft comprises about 1.4% of Sovran Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.63 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $393.08. 1,955,637 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,177,789. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $391.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $414.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lifted 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $504.90.

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.