Cardano Asset Management N.V. Sells 348,076 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cardano Asset Management N.V. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,411,368 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 348,076 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 35.1% of Cardano Asset Management N.V.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Cardano Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $480,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,396,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Planning Center Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Planning Center Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 1,518,749 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $437,855,000 after acquiring an additional 94,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 19,877 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,769,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $366.68 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $219.35 and a 52 week high of $370.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.11.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.34.

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.