Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 662,121 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 12,296 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.4% of Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $284,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $4.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $442.88. 9,331,550 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,927,922. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.66.

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.