Avity Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,470 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,632 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.5% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $319.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $325.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.01. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 30.96%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $398.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.34.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.
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