Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cresset Asset Management LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Cresset Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 655,665 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 531,064 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Cresset Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $276,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $430.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $480.69. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.