Private Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Private Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 264,236 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 13,410 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 8.8% of Private Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Private Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $118,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,640,068 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,096,428,000 after buying an additional 360,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 15.6% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,931,721 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,019,942,000 after buying an additional 1,613,050 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $5.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $431.95. The stock had a trading volume of 17,582,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,204,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $331.83 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $502.97.

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.