Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,776 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.3% of Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $474.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.65. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.42. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

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.