Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Dupont Capital Management Corp

Dupont Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,720 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,659 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Dupont Capital Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Dupont Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,890,530,000 after purchasing an additional 49,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,462,919 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,822,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $425.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.04. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend 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.