Lummis Asset Management LP Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lummis Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,339 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 8.2% of Lummis Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Lummis Asset Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,912,402,000 after purchasing an additional 251,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,651,058 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,734,651,000 after purchasing an additional 501,954 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $429.03 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $429.32 and a 200 day moving average of $426.37. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

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.