Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Reduced by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 4th, 2023

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,936,970 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 14,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 9.7% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $558,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,731,177 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268,917 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Microsoft stock opened at $337.99 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $351.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $322.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.18.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 33.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.47%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $1,550,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,169,370.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,331 shares of company stock worth $15,867,278 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $320.00 to $340.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $340.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.18.

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.