Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Asio Capital LLC

Asio Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,040 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of Asio Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $412.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $420.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

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.