Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,766 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $393.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $381.00 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $416.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.