Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Breakwater Capital Group

Breakwater Capital Group cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,698 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Breakwater Capital Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Welch Capital Partners LLC NY raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Capital Partners LLC NY now owns 3,137 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cowen AND Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 836.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC now owns 46,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,835,000 after purchasing an additional 41,639 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $408.25 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $425.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $422.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.