Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $1.13 Billion Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,668,527 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 300,399 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.0% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,134,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after purchasing an additional 49,288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $427.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.