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

Artemis Investment Management LLP lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 756,514 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 234,582 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.0% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $325,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.