Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,553 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 51,068 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.8% of Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PointState Capital LP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 346,688 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $149,180,000 after buying an additional 157,476 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 5,538 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Miller Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56.7% in the third quarter. Miller Investment Management LP now owns 33,764 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,529,000 after purchasing an additional 12,214 shares during the last quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 35,855 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,428,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 67,459 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,028,000 after purchasing an additional 20,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research 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, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $409.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $431.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.79. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.