Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by J. Stern & Co. LLP

J. Stern & Co. LLP trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 66.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 200 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $415.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $432.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.81. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.