Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 105,892 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,147 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $24,401,940,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,952,329,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th 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. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $11,872,000. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 7.5% during the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 46,493,373 shares of the software giant's stock worth $13,107,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,258,613 shares during the period. 69.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $372.00 to $354.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $380.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 19th. Credit Suisse Group set a $400.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Friday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Microsoft from $370.00 to $330.00 and set an "inline" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $345.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.52.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 26th. The software giant reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.04. Microsoft had a return on equity of 44.85% and a net margin of 37.63%. The company had revenue of $49.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 9.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Microsoft Profile

(Get Rating)

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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