Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 2,702 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Navellier & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,101 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,702 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,566,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Microsoft by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,299,767,000 after buying an additional 1,938,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $415.06. The company had a trading volume of 34,151,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,687,650. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $432.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.81. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 34.38%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.96.

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 transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % 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 valued at $17,383,892. 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.