Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,700 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.9% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 613,005,516 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $82,118,218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,724,483 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 96,567,563 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,936,190,000 after buying an additional 385,074 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2,651.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 67,353,275 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,022,645,000 after buying an additional 64,905,685 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 52,986,086 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,097,675,000 after buying an additional 342,648 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,368,268 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,603,974,000 after buying an additional 782,124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.22% of the company’s stock.
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating and set a $169.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Jaffray Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, ValuEngine cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.45.
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $149.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1,129.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.86 and its 200 day moving average is $135.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 2.85. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $93.96 and a one year high of $149.99.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The software giant reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $33.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.24 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 39.14% and a net margin of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.74%.
Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its company's Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office 365 commercial products and services, such as Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Office 365 consumer services, including Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive; LinkedIn online professional network; and Dynamics business solutions comprising financial management, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications for small and medium businesses, large organizations, and divisions of enterprises.
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