Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,367 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 7.9% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,996 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 128.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,160,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,412,656,000 after buying an additional 1,776,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $447.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $424.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.63. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $364.13 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % 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 valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

Microsoft Company 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.