Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $21.76 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,577 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,169 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.7% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,160,020,000 after acquiring an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $415.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 outstanding 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 typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft 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 owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.03.

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.