Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Cut by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,907,575 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,646,214 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,451,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Microsoft by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,299,767,000 after buying an additional 1,938,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price on the stock. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’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 $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $447.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $431.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.08. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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