EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC Sells 628 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,154 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 628 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.4% of EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.1 %

MSFT opened at $434.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company 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 business’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 firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.