Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 1,514 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 188,272 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,514 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.0% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 21,479 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after purchasing an additional 11,633 shares in the last quarter. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $11,126,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 36,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,674,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 12,468 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,365,000 after acquiring an additional 300 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 $415.67 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 50-day simple moving average of $429.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.72. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $384.81 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.