Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,735,972 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 151,178 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.4% of Victory Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Microsoft worth $2,468,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 17.2% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 372,241 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $160,175,000 after buying an additional 55,866 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 25,008 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,761,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in Microsoft by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 68,514 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,481,000 after acquiring an additional 10,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 332,251 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $142,968,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $429.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 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 $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.53.

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.