Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,801,121 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,688,059 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.2% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.83% of Microsoft worth $27,621,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 55,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,699,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 13,247 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,921,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the second quarter. Marathon Capital Management now owns 25,533 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Mark Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Mark Asset Management LP now owns 83,351 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,254,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Private Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.5% during the second quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC now owns 3,691 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $421.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.32.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.