Ulland Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ulland Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,269 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Ulland Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,578 shares of company stock worth $55,279,956. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $431.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $420.83 and its 200-day moving average is $426.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.