AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,716,430 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,804 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 10.1% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $737,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,808 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,088,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the second quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 2,196 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,032 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,680,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $1,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $380.38 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.