Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Sterling Investment Management LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,241 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $393.31 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $416.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $421.85. 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 company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $381.00 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

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.