Banco Santander S.A. Has $283.53 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 672,666 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,545 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.4% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $283,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $449.14 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $391.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.77.

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.