Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 756,514 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 234,582 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $325,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $417.00. The company had a trading volume of 24,814,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.19. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.