Ballast Advisors LLC Sells 1,181 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ballast Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,693 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,181 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,884 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34.4% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 124,415 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $53,536,000 after purchasing an additional 31,878 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,604 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,993,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $12,882,000. Finally, Leslie Global Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.79. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.01 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

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.