Aviva PLC Has $2.19 Billion Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aviva PLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,205,273 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,114 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.7% of Aviva PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aviva PLC owned about 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,194,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $470.92 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $473.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $420.97 and a 200-day moving average of $417.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.57.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.