Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Meeder Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,527 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 57,130 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.6% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $83,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $431.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.