Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Increased by Sachetta LLC

Sachetta LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,354 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Sachetta LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first 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 period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its stake in Microsoft by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 94,130 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,914,000 after acquiring an additional 11,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.1% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 884,733 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $393,957,000 after acquiring an additional 58,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $444.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $431.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.54. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft 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.