Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 99.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 91,657 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38,409,988 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of International Assets Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the second quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,307 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,758,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,046,422 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $914,648,000 after acquiring an additional 20,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $408.43 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $428.76 and a 200-day moving average of $422.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.