Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.7% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,566,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 30.9% in the third quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd now owns 33,750 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,523,000 after acquiring an additional 7,970 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 61,908 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,666 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,760 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,200,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Yoder Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,861 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $427.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.