Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Reduced by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Douglas Lane & Associates reduced its Microsoft stake by 2.1%, selling 7,155 shares in the third quarter; it still held 335,195 shares worth about $171.9 million.
• Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 18.8% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $609.54; meanwhile, company insiders sold 142,809 shares worth roughly $72.1 million over three months.

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,195 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,155 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.1% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $171,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mann Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mann Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,921 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.37, for a total transaction of $3,976,622.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 548,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $298,364,297.67. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 142,809 shares of company stock worth $72,114,646 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Investors following MSFT have been watching these news items:

• 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: Anthropic’s new workplace tools—including spreadsheet and data-focused products—are the clearest near-term overhang, raising fears that AI competitors could challenge Microsoft’s large Office and productivity-software business. Microsoft stock slides after Anthropic launches productivity tools
• 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 Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $521.13 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $559.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $518.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The business's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.13 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.54.

Microsoft Profile

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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