F M Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

F M Investments LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,404 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,718 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of F M Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $109,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $421.50 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $428.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

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.