Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 142,686 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 10,539 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.8% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $397.12 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at $22,675,916.64. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock worth $3,070,340. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.