Managed Asset Portfolios LLC Has $39.88 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Managed Asset Portfolios LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,684 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 13,684 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.6% of Managed Asset Portfolios LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the second quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,860 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,854,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,533,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $432.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.72.

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.