Parthenon LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,994 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 365 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 12.9% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $108,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.93.
Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %
MSFT opened at $429.03 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.58. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
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.
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