Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lessened by Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,656 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 55,721 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $131,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $10.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $426.03. 8,688,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,715,867. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $429.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $384.81 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft 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.