Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,964 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $4,875,000. Microsoft comprises about 4.9% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during 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 Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after purchasing an additional 88,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $394.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $414.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $389.48. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.