Smith Group Asset Management LLC Has $59.42 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,962 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.4% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $408.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $419.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.