Primecap Management Co. CA Has $4.24 Billion Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,847,015 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 196,565 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,237,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $434.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $431.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.30. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.