Scharf Investments LLC Cuts Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Scharf Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 417,007 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,888 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.8% of Scharf Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $156,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $434.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft Profile

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.