Foundation Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Foundation Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,598 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.2% of Foundation Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Foundation Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 18,328 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the second quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 12,771 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,708,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Seneca House Advisors increased its position in Microsoft by 2.5% during the second quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 29,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,017,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the second quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 32,309 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,441,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 $428.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.38. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

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.