Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s Largest Position

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 7.2% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,439,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $425.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.04. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.