Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s Largest Position

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,732,279 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,803 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.9% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,837,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 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 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $450.18 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $403.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.