Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Everpar Advisors LLC

Everpar Advisors LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,005 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,380 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.2% of Everpar Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Everpar Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after purchasing an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.49 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $422.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.