Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Sells 7,293 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 183,067 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,293 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.1% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $428.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

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.