Strategy Asset Managers LLC Has $21.52 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,046 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.2% of Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

MSFT opened at $463.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $415.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four 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, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.