Ardevora Asset Management LLP Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,501 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,548 shares during the period. Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $1,535,000. Shore Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Tobam raised its stake in Microsoft by 15,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 155 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. 69.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $349.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $372.00 to $354.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on Microsoft from $363.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 10th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Microsoft from $352.00 to $312.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.88.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $282.47 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $241.51 and a 1-year high of $349.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $262.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a return on equity of 43.31% and a net margin of 36.69%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.73%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, as well as related Client Access Licenses (CAL); 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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