Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Trimmed by Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,268 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,192 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.6% of Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% during the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $192,515,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the period. Quest Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the second quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $69,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 25.7% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $112,031,000 after purchasing an additional 51,273 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $421.09 and a 200-day moving average of $425.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft Company 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.