Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Troy Asset Management Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

Troy Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 920,640 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 23,143 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 13.3% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $411,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.6% in the second quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 7,240 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,236,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.7% in the second quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,114 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 23,870 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 26,121 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,675,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,037,000 after purchasing an additional 2,284 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.44. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.