Ninety One UK Ltd Has $2.76 Billion Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,556,617 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,660 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 7.4% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,763,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. RFG Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 3,049 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 866,721 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $365,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,624 shares during the period. James J. Burns & Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 16,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 92,314 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,910,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $367.24 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $404.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft 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.