Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Verity Asset Management Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Verity Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,454 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 444 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average is $427.53. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $380.38 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s 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 represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.