Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,048,699 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,992 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.6% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,145,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $390.05. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $303.40 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.