Golden State Equity Partners Has $15.81 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Golden State Equity Partners lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,732 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.5% of Golden State Equity Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the second quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,051,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.3% during the second quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 7,752 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,465,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 846 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $428.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.