Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,755,011 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 192,241 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.6% of Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $597,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 29,789.2% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,477,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515,452 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Microsoft from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.34.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $327.73 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $321.26.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
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.
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