Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 481,993 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 91,070 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.3% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $207,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 23,272 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,014,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 101,990 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,886,000 after buying an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 39,447 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,974,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 103,842 shares of the software giant's stock worth $44,683,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 91,874 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,533,000 after acquiring an additional 12,411 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %
MSFT stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $415.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,151,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,687,650. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $432.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.81. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors 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 payout ratio is 26.73%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.96.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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