Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lifted by Montgomery Investment Management Inc.

Montgomery Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,455 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.1% of Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pointe Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,066,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,864,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 7,262 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,706 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

MSFT opened at $439.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $427.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft Company 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.