Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,447,535 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,040,879 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.5% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,483,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 95.7% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 9,095 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,914,000 after purchasing an additional 4,448 shares in the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.3% during the third quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $20,676,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,551 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 108.4% in the third quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 2,447 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.06 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $432.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.61. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.