Costello Asset Management INC Acquires 2,701 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,890 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,701 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 7.2% of Costello Asset Management INC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $389.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $407.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.45. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

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.