Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is S&CO Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

S&CO Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,764 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of S&CO Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during 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. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after buying an additional 324,052 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $454.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $395.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.61. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.16.

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.