AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,716,430 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 16,804 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 10.1% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $737,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,808 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,088,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 2,196 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,032 shares of the software giant's stock worth $19,680,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,047,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $5.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $418.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,908,811. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $380.38 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $511.62.
View Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Click the link below to learn more about how your portfolio could bloom.
Get This Free Report
