Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,169,130 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,272 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.0% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $492,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $359.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $399.08 and a 200 day moving average of $417.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $359.48 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

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.