Logan Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Logan Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,681 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,083 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $83,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $408.43 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $429.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.