Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Vectors Research Management LLC

Vectors Research Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,776 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.4% of Vectors Research Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 157,324 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $67,696,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,335 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,890,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. King Wealth Management Group raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 110,501 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,548,000 after buying an additional 29,295 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,098,917 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $903,017,000 after acquiring an additional 103,257 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $429.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.14. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.93.

Microsoft 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.