AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,227 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,039 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 302,541,869 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $101,750,881,000 after acquiring an additional 8,108,943 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 129,107,118 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,313,705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027,306 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $24,401,940,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 57,181,533 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,231,292,000 after acquiring an additional 584,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,096,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,149,038,000 after acquiring an additional 652,526 shares during the last quarter. 69.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $261.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $241.51 and a 52-week high of $349.67.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a return on equity of 43.31% and a net margin of 36.69%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.73%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, June 13th. Credit Suisse Group set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Microsoft from $373.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 7th. Redburn Partners initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Microsoft from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.31.
Microsoft Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.
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