Profit Investment Management LLC Sells 71 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Profit Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,618 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Profit Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Profit Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $422.99 on Thursday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $421.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.42. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.