Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's 2nd Largest Position

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 261,452 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,726 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.6% of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Microsoft were worth $112,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 67.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% during the 3rd 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. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $431.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.