GQG Partners LLC Has $2.67 Billion Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 53.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,337,902 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,196,379 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of GQG Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. GQG Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,671,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $458.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, 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 has a 50-day moving average of $409.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.11. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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.