Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Truist Financial Corp’s 4th Largest Position

Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,199,619 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.8% of Truist Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,770,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $367.78 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $388.25 and its 200 day moving average is $412.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Company 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.