Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by Beaton Management Co. Inc.

Beaton Management Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,328 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.0% of Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $446.20 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $429.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.