Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lessened by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,391,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38,166 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.9% of M&T Bank Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,029,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $23,174,000. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 8,093 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,794,000. Raelipskie Partnership increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raelipskie Partnership now owns 19,850 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.7% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 43,621 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,621,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $431.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.