Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Decreased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,462 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 9,051 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.1% of Proficio Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,566,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,348 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in Microsoft by 56.9% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business'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 owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

MSFT traded down $1.52 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $415.67. 16,906,561 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,754,344. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $384.81 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

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.