Point72 Europe London LLP Sells 56,016 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Point72 Europe London LLP cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 55.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 45,024 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 56,016 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.2% of Point72 Europe London LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $412.37 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.