Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Vanderbilt University’s 10th Largest Position

Vanderbilt University raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,887 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of Vanderbilt University’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after acquiring an additional 88,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,353,488,000 after acquiring an additional 207,591 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $414.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $387.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

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.