Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 183,781 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,298 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 8.2% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.54 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $430.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

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.