Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Hoffman Alan N Investment Management

Hoffman Alan N Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,964 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 14.5% of Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $425.20 and its 200-day moving average is $423.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.