Clarity Asset Management Inc. Purchases 96 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clarity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,052 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.3% of Clarity Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Clarity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $431.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.29. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.