Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.

Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,669 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,840 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.5% of Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $192,515,000 after acquiring an additional 8,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $69,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $422.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.05. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.