Warther Private Wealth LLC Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Warther Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,865 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,407 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.2% of Warther Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Warther Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $427.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.