Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by Virtue Capital Management LLC

Virtue Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,468 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,759 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 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 three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $430.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.