Janus Henderson Group PLC Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,393,536 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,186,004 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.3% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.38% of Microsoft worth $12,217,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.4% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 27,895 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,003,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 3,158 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 46,921 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,190,000 after acquiring an additional 4,720 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 204.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 120,129 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $51,691,000 after purchasing an additional 80,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,283 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $431.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.85. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 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.