Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 935,209 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,271,140 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 935,209 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.9% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,643,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $411.89 and its 200-day moving average is $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.