Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Increased by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 178,339 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $76,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.53.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $429.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $429.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.