Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Portfolio Design Labs LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,972 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 766 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,957,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,018,128,000 after purchasing an additional 57,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,912,402,000 after purchasing an additional 251,408 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $444.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $431.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.54. 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 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.