Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Reduced by Insight Holdings Group LLC

Insight Holdings Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 164,560 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Insight Holdings Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Insight Holdings Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $70,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after buying an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after acquiring an additional 636,713 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.82 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $431.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other 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 directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.