Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Fiera Capital Corp’s 2nd Largest Position

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,493,702 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 116,027 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.0% of Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,894,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $388.45 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $391.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $414.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 $0.83 dividend. 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Westpark Capital began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.41.

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.