Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Gold Investment Management Ltd.

Gold Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,921 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,332 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.1% of Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantum Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,482 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,140,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 15,501 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,674,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 21,670 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,326,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 12,962 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,433,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 436,564 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $187,853,000 after acquiring an additional 49,544 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.53. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $380.38 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.