GDS Wealth Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.8% of GDS Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 0.88%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Profile

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.