US Asset Management LLC Has $7.77 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

US Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,475 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.0% of US Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $449.78 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $450.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $419.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $407.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

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.