Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 284,382 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Yacktman Asset Management LP lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,248,427 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 284,382 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.5% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $537,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 56.9% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,299,767,000 after buying an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,366,000 after buying an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $423.35 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $428.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

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.