Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Abel Hall LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,434 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.3% of Abel Hall LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in 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 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $391.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day moving average is $419.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.