1,808,731 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,808,731 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $679,928,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 10.8% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $423.34.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $421.43 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $272.05 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $409.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $373.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

About Microsoft

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.