Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 12.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,769 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after buying an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.46.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
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.
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