D1 Capital Partners L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

D1 Capital Partners L.P. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 51.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 152,185 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 159,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of D1 Capital Partners L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. D1 Capital Partners L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $410.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $432.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.