abrdn plc Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

abrdn plc lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,903,482 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,352,711 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.4% of abrdn plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. abrdn plc owned about 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,955,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $428.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.86. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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.