Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Clarius Group LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Clarius Group LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 310,024 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,193 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.3% of Clarius Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $133,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $422.99 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $421.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.42. 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 $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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

Microsoft 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.