Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Cortland Associates Inc. MO

Cortland Associates Inc. MO cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,631 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.3% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 33,718 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,119,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,308,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 274,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $118,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 20,884 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,984,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 49,945 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,491,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $428.62 and its 200 day moving average is $428.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 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.