Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Lountzis Asset Management LLC

Lountzis Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 963 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.2% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Newfound Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.4% during the second quarter. Newfound Research LLC now owns 296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Darrow Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $82,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 58.6% during the third quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 406 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 69.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $240.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $315.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The software giant reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.06. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.37% and a return on equity of 42.10%. The company had revenue of $50.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $325.00 to $307.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Fundamental Research lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.88.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 24,144 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.27, for a total value of $6,139,094.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,152,450.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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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.