Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lowered by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,825 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,089 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.2% of Sepio Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 18.9% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,848 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.1% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 10,699 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,782,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Peloton Wealth Strategists raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 17,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,821,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Ninepoint Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.5% in the second quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 9,429 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,214,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $8,626,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $425.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $421.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.44. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

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.