Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Trimmed by Horan Capital Advisors LLC.

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,108 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.3% of Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings 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 acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.82. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.