Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 131,927 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,388 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.3% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

MSFT stock opened at $430.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $428.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.