Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s 3rd Largest Position

Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,284 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.2% of Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $453.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $393.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.42. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.16.

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.