Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 170,804 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,785,770 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 170,804 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.0% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,629,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $3,413,000. Finally, Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,873 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,882,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

MSFT stock opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $431.44 and its 200-day moving average is $423.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given 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 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.