Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,760,311 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 704,129 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.5% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Microsoft worth $1,618,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.5 %

Microsoft stock traded up $10.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $426.03. The stock had a trading volume of 8,688,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,715,867. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $429.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.72. 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 52 week low of $384.81 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.