Atria Investments Inc Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Atria Investments Inc lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 438,455 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,749 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of Atria Investments Inc's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $188,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,566,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 56.9% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Microsoft stock traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $415.67. The stock had a trading volume of 16,906,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,754,344. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $429.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.98. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $384.81 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.