Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Decreased by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,609,729 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 161,831 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.0% of Fiera Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,983,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Triune Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $432,000. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 14,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,094,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 15,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,477,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,482 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,140,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $380.38 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average is $427.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.