Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Bank of Stockton

Bank of Stockton lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,539 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 509 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.3% of Bank of Stockton’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,886 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,254,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 12,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,467,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Financial Management Network Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 16,697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,947,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,086 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 196,184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $81,872,000 after buying an additional 5,124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $436.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $427.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.42. The company has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

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.