Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,841 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,830 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.1% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $387.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $295.25 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 27.12%.

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.