Baillie Gifford & Co. Buys 2,222,483 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $3,032,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 40,699 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,191,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in Microsoft by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,653,394 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $738,984,000 after purchasing an additional 225,961 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the second quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 36,918 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,501,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 40,936 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,297,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $424.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $384.81 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Company 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.