Sycomore Asset Management Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sycomore Asset Management cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,417 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 17,905 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 8.7% of Sycomore Asset Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sycomore Asset Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $4.45 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $429.03. 26,146,013 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $429.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.