Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Egerton Capital UK LLP

Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,758,009 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 37,958 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 8.6% of Egerton Capital UK LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Egerton Capital UK LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $741,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $454.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $395.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $412.34. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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 dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 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 have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.30.

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.