Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Raised by Capital Wealth Management LLC

Capital Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $402.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $414.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $389.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.