World Equity Group Inc. Sells 38,938 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

World Equity Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 49.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,176 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38,938 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.2% of World Equity Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $431.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $422.80 and a 200-day moving average of $423.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.