Telemark Asset Management LLC Sells 20,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Telemark Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,000 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Telemark Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $27.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $414.83. 47,641,351 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,904,332. The business has a 50 day moving average of $432.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft 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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.24.

About Microsoft

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.