Otter Creek Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Otter Creek Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,699 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,001 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Otter Creek Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Otter Creek Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $447.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $431.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.08. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.