Dupont Capital Management Corp Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dupont Capital Management Corp cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,720 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,659 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Dupont Capital Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Dupont Capital Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $505.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $450.84 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $428.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.