Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by HS Management Partners LLC

HS Management Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 171,328 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 64,215 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.7% of HS Management Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, 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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $428.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.35. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.