Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,296 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,173 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,996 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 128.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,160,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,412,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,825 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $451.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $425.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.76. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company 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.