UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 2,125,030 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.0% of UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.73% of Microsoft worth $23,490,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,007,285,000 after acquiring an additional 636,713 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $432.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.61. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.