Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,262 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.7% of Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $431.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.