McHugh Group LLC Takes $10.96 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

McHugh Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,004 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $10,961,000. Microsoft comprises 8.2% of McHugh Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in 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 increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $373.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $400.77 and its 200-day moving average is $417.80. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $367.24 and a 1 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.