KBC Group NV Has $2.23 Billion Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,175,653 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 207,260 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 6.7% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. KBC Group NV owned 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,227,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $429.03. 26,146,013 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $429.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.37. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % 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 three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.