Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cerity Partners LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,190,595 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 459,906 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.0% of Cerity Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,372,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

MSFT traded down $27.34 on Thursday, hitting $414.99. The company had a trading volume of 53,865,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,496,486. The company's fifty day moving average price is $432.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.95. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.24.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.