Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $3.25 Billion Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,651,554 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,880,848 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.4% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.12% of Microsoft worth $3,247,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fosun International Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $503.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $506.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $470.64 and its 200 day moving average is $425.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Oppenheimer raised Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.14.

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.