Artemis Investment Management LLP Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Artemis Investment Management LLP reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 633,515 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 122,999 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.8% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $267,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 322.7% in the second quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 62,879 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,103,000 after buying an additional 48,005 shares in the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 12.1% during the second quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frisch Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,189 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $388.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $419.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.