Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,026 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 802 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 6.5% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% during the second quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,477,000 after buying an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 13,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,854,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

MSFT stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $428.50. 25,848,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,069,188. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $429.54 and a 200-day moving average of $425.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.93.

Microsoft 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.