Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 308,963 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,571,607 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 308,963 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.4% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,536,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its position in Microsoft by 10.9% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, 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 hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $449.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $364.13 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $422.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

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.