By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Grange Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,694 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of Grange Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $388.56 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $412.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.55.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.
View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
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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