Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,261,880 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.4% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $531,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in 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 buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

MSFT opened at $391.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $384.46 and a 200-day moving average of $411.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.89.

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.