Provident Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reported. The institutional investor now owns 182,525 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,979 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.4% of Provident Investment Management’s investment portfolio, and the stock occupies the fourth position. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s Microsoft stock was worth $57,632,000 as of its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Many other hedge funds and institutional investors have also changed their holdings in MSFT. 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 Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corporation now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased his holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after purchasing an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street analysts predict growth
Many equity research analysts have been paying attention to MSFT stock lately. China Renaissance began reporting on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. They gave the company a “buy” rating and a price target of $466.00. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. 4 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and 36 have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.00.
Check out the latest stock report for Microsoft.
Microsoft stock performance
MSFT stock opened Wednesday at $415.28. Microsoft’s 1-year low was $245.73 and 1-year high was $420.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.55x, a P/E ratio of 2.16x, and a beta of 0.89x. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20, and a current ratio of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $401.01 and its 200 day moving average is $367.12.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion in the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net profit margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue increased by 17.6% compared to the same period last year. In the same period last year, the business’ earnings per share were $2.32. On average, sell-side analysts expect Microsoft to report earnings per share 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, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This equates to his $3.00 dividend and his 0.72% dividend yield on an annualized basis. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.
Insider buying and selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the closing of the transaction, the executive vice president will now directly own 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in his SEC filing, available at this link. Also, major shareholder Microsoft Corporation sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. Disclosures regarding this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the past quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
About Microsoft
(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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