Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,511 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,017 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $359.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $399.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $359.48 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend 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.