Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s 3rd Largest Position

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,169,350 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,039 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.8% of Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,189,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft 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.