Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Edgewood Management LLC

Edgewood Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,008,331 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 52,859 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.8% of Edgewood Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Edgewood Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,155,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $447.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $431.42 and a 200-day moving average of $425.08. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.