Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Dividend Assets Capital LLC

Dividend Assets Capital LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 82,157 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,828 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,810,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537,712 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $369.67 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $332.31 and its 200 day moving average is $329.67. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $219.35 and a twelve month high of $370.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The company had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.33%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total value of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.34.

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.