7,769 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Lawood & Co.

Key Points

• Lawood & Co. reduced its Microsoft stake by 41.9% in the third quarter, selling 7,769 shares and retaining 10,773 shares valued at $5.525 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Microsoft has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $609.54. The company also reported quarterly EPS and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 18.8% year over year.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, equivalent to an annualized $3.92 and a 0.8% yield.

Lawood & Co. cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,773 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,769 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.3% of Lawood & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Lawood & Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 315,653,206 shares of the software giant's stock worth $117,744,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,944,917 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,013,297,000 after acquiring an additional 543,172 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 46,694,778 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,418,076,000 after acquiring an additional 5,019,702 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $662.00 to $722.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $700.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $630.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 142,809 shares of company stock valued at $72,114,646. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Investors following MSFT have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud and AI businesses continue to attract enterprise use. A new IBM partnership combines Microsoft’s cloud, data and security services with more than 6,000 AI agents; Northern Trust also reported that an agent built with Microsoft cut data-preparation time by 83%. IBM and Microsoft announce an AI agent platform Northern Trust leans on Microsoft to boost agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore said Anthropic’s Claude Sheets is not yet a substitute for Excel, tempering concerns that the new tools will quickly displace Microsoft 365. Still, the launch puts competitive pressure on Microsoft’s productivity products and Copilot. Evercore weighs disruption concerns after Claude Sheets launch
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported $10.9 billion quarterly adjusted operating loss has renewed questions about the profitability of Microsoft’s major AI partnership and the returns on its AI investment. Microsoft’s OpenAI bet and questions raised by Anthropic’s profit lead

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day moving average price is $518.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $441.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $559.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.46%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

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