Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Athena Investment Management
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Athena Investment Management trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,035 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.4% of Athena Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,824,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,554 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $425.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $403.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $367.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $259.21 and a 52-week high of $427.82.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $466.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.00.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
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.
Further Reading
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