Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 678,786 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 24,315 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 28.0% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $292,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 41,412 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, ETF Store Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the first quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 1,785 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

Microsoft Profile

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.