Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s 2nd Largest Position

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.7% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,566,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd now owns 33,750 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,523,000 after acquiring an additional 7,970 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 61,908 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,666 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,760 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,200,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 11.8% during the third quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,861 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $436.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $427.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $428.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.