EULAV Asset Management Sells 2,502 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

EULAV Asset Management decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,530 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,502 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.1 %

MSFT stock traded down $9.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $434.56. The company had a trading volume of 35,603,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,414,383. The company has a 50 day moving average of $431.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.66.

About Microsoft

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.