MAS Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MAS Advisors LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,952 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.1% of MAS Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. MAS Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during 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 boosted 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $367.24 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $404.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.