Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Sonata Capital Group Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Sonata Capital Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,324 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.9% of Sonata Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Sonata Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,651,058 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,734,651,000 after acquiring an additional 501,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,587,576,000 after acquiring an additional 45,220 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $418.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.53. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $380.38 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.