Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lowered by Mizuho Markets Cayman LP

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 36.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 751 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 434 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $429.03 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $429.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.14. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.