Lifeworks Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,193 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Lifeworks Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Lifeworks Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,089 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,318,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.7% in the third quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP increased its position in Microsoft by 23.3% during the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 16,339 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,031,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 350,356 shares of the software giant's stock worth $150,758,000 after purchasing an additional 12,137 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 418,563 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $180,108,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.93.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.45 on Monday, hitting $429.03. 26,146,013 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company's fifty day moving average is $429.32 and its 200 day moving average is $426.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given 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 is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. 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.