Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC

Posted by on May 17th, 2023

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 282,579 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,912 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Microsoft by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after buying an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% during the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $311.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $286.94 and a 200 day moving average of $259.77. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $313.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 29.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.70, for a total value of $1,543,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 105,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,477,092.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total value of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,767 shares of company stock worth $13,462,861. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Microsoft from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Fundamental Research downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.28.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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