Jennison Associates LLC Sells 1,530,392 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,547,376 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,530,392 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.3% of Jennison Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,132,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during 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 increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position 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 worth $9,018,128,000 after purchasing an additional 57,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,912,402,000 after purchasing an additional 251,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $444.06 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft 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.