Franklin Resources Inc. Has $16.79 Billion Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,829,031 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,408,374 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,787,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $470.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $417.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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