Troy Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 32.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,193,436 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 566,660 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 10.4% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $344,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optas LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 25,001 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,996,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 11,951 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 44,418 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 844,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $202,480,000 after purchasing an additional 11,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 200,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.54, for a total value of $1,588,015.74. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,328 shares in the company, valued at $29,481,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,081 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.54, for a total transaction of $1,588,015.74. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,481,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.87, for a total value of $1,584,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 89,328 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,363.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,331 shares of company stock worth $20,450,828 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.07%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $375.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $263.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.76.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.
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