Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,951 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 19,137 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Up 1.5 %
MSFT stock traded up $5.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $359.82. The company had a trading volume of 4,141,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,748,721. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $393.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $415.52. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.
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, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 0.92%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
