Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $109,668,000 after purchasing an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $294,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,175,351 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $972,273,000 after purchasing an additional 164,980 shares during the last quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the second quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 31,460 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,061,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Battery Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% during the second quarter. Battery Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,906 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $422.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $421.09 and its 200 day moving average is $424.95. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $360.36 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

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.