Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,738 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.7% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% in 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 buying an additional 8,108,943 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,401,940,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $13,149,038,000 after purchasing an additional 652,526 shares during the period. 69.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $370.00 to $330.00 and set an “inline” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Credit Suisse Group set a $400.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $325.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $380.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.31.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $291.91 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.55. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $241.51 and a one year high of $349.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a net margin of 36.69% and a return on equity of 43.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.73%.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, as well as related Client Access Licenses (CAL); 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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