Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Trimmed by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,980 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,404,348 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted 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 valued at $2,299,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $369.01 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.