Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by Taurus Asset Management LLC

Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,254 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,813 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 7.7% of Taurus Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 37,624 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,189,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 166.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 38,647 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,630,000 after acquiring an additional 24,156 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 29,652 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,759,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,320,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT opened at $446.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $430.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.55. 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 $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho lifted 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. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.