WCM Investment Management LLC Sells 19,171 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WCM Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,919,728 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,171 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $821,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $426.31 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $429.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.72. The company has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.17, 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. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $384.81 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.