Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Boosted by Costello Asset Management INC

Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,890 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,701 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.2% of Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $389.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $407.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $419.45. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.