HoldingsChannel.com reports that Main Street Research LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. The institutional investor now owns 116,604 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,490 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.8% of his Main Street Research LLC investment portfolio, and the company’s stock occupies his fifth-largest position. Main Street Research LLC’s Microsoft stock was worth $36,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also changed their holdings. Vanguard Group raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corporation lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corporation now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,810,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537,712 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised his holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,302,677,000 after purchasing an additional 556,020 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft stock falls 0.3%
Microsoft stock opened Friday at $410.34. Microsoft’s 1-year low is $245.61 and 1-year high is $420.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22, and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.10x, a P/E ratio of 2.19x, and a beta of 0.90x. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $392.60 and its 200-day moving average is $359.47.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net profit margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst expectations of $61.14 billion. The company’s earnings per share for the same period last year were $2.32. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue increased 17.6% year over year. On average, sell-side analysts expect Microsoft to report EPS of $11.63 for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft announces dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This equates to his $3.00 dividend and his 0.73% yield on an annualized basis. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 14th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.
Insiders place bets
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 24,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.00, for a total transaction of $9,107,289.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 183,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,807,809. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed on the SEC’s website. In other Microsoft news, EVP girlfriend Kathleen T. Hogan sold 24,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.00, for a total transaction of $9,107,289.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 183,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,807,809. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed on the SEC’s website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. Disclosures regarding this sale can be found here. Over the past 90 days, insiders have sold 72,984 shares of company stock, valued at $28,978,803. Insiders currently own 0.03% of the stock.
Analyst sets new price target
A lot of research companies have been paying attention to MSFT lately. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $432.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. 4 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and 36 have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $411.06.
Read the latest research report on Microsoft
microsoft profile
(Free report)
Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions around the world. Productivity and Business Processes delivers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Office consumer services such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.
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