Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s 3rd Largest Position

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443,390 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 32,415 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.3% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $190,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,653,394 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $738,984,000 after buying an additional 225,961 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 40,936 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,297,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $384.81 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $429.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.