Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,417 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,186 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.2% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $84,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. RFG Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 3,049 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 866,721 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $365,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 16,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,490 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 92,314 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,910,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9 %

MSFT opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $404.45 and its 200-day moving average is $418.77. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $367.24 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.86.

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.