Access Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Access Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 590 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Access Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 9,930 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,893,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 47,998 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,453,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % 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 three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $426.31 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $384.81 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $429.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.