Grimes & Company Inc. cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,155 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,204 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.0% of Grimes & Company Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Grimes & Company Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $72,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd 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 period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after buying an additional 49,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %
Microsoft stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $436.60. The stock had a trading volume of 54,224,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company'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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.46.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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