Swedbank AB Grows Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,090,753 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 401,397 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 7.3% of Swedbank AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Swedbank AB owned about 0.19% of Microsoft worth $5,939,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $408.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.