Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s Largest Position

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 441,738 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,540 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $190,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 316,860 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $135,622,000 after purchasing an additional 35,828 shares during the period. Elite Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 325,486 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $140,057,000 after purchasing an additional 6,260 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 703,324 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $302,640,000 after acquiring an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 16,025 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,896,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $432.53 and a 200 day moving average of $424.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

About Microsoft

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.