Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,324 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $302,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $410.92 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $432.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.44. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

About Microsoft

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.