Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 642,356 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 12,092 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.8% of Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $270,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $452.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $421.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.52. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $453.60.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.