Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cincinnati Financial Corp’s 3rd Largest Position

Cincinnati Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 642,250 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 273,000 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.0% of Cincinnati Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cincinnati Financial Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $276,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $446.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $430.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.55. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.86, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.