Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s Largest Position

Cox Capital Mgt LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,380 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Broderick Brian C raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 52,405 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the first quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,361 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,444,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $423.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.46. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently 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.