Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Boosted by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,092,957 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,812 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.2% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,761,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,966 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,337,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 23,646 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,175,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 20,229 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,704,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.9% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 95,565 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,121,000 after acquiring an additional 28,240 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.06 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $432.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

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 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 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.