Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,292,011 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 28,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.9% of Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $555,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 40,010 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,216,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,404 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,231 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,972,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,228,198 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $528,494,000 after purchasing an additional 50,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,020,221 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,299,601,000 after purchasing an additional 53,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $423.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $428.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.08.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued 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 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.