Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Lewis Asset Management LLC

Lewis Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,869 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.7% of Lewis Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 30,161 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after acquiring an additional 3,033 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the third quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,257 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,428 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.7% in the third quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 5,185 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 15,180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,532,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.95 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $380.38 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $428.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

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.