Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 3,169 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,577 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,169 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.7% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position 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 buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Curtis Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Curtis Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,326 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 27.1% during the first quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 105,478 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $44,380,000 after purchasing an additional 22,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 107,264 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,185,000 after buying an additional 4,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $415.49 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $422.46 and a 200 day moving average of $426.13.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. 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.