Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Peak Asset Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Peak Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,075 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,473 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.0% of Peak Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Peak Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake 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 worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,227 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,934,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% during the second quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 234,525 shares of the software giant's stock worth $104,821,000 after purchasing an additional 59,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,042 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $429.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,146,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.37. 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, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.93.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.