Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.

Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,669 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,840 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.5% of Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $414.17 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.05. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

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.