Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,135,289 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 103,712 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $918,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised 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 valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $3,413,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 190,082 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $84,889,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $415.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $431.86 and its 200 day moving average is $423.85. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.