Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Okabena Investment Services Inc.

Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,067 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,036 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $463.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $413.59 and its 200 day moving average is $415.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.