Derbend Asset Management Has $4.65 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Derbend Asset Management increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,368 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.7% of Derbend Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Derbend Asset Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during 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 in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after buying an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,353,488,000 after purchasing an additional 207,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $414.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $387.17. 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 one year low of $292.73 and a one year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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