SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. Sells 5,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,299 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 10.1% of SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $64,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 19.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. HSBC raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $347.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Microsoft from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.06.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $377.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.47. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $219.35 and a 52 week high of $378.87.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.31% and a return on equity of 38.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.