Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 6,959 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 633,184 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,959 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.1% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $266,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $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 raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.00.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $390.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $392.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.