Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ithaka Group LLC

Ithaka Group LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,651 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,192 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 7.3% of Ithaka Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 11,902 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,121,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 33,406 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the third quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 5,453 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 28,119 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,099,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 21,351 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $442.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $432.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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 and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.