Jackson Square Partners LLC Decreases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Jackson Square Partners LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,581 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,320 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 8.0% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $480.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $507.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho cut Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.33.

About Microsoft

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.