Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,298 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,096,428,000 after acquiring an additional 360,171 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,019,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,050 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $420.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.58. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $334.69 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.11%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Microsoft

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.