Montag & Caldwell LLC Sells 22,385 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Montag & Caldwell LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 78,660 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 22,385 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 7.1% of Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Towerpoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the first quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,526 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,587,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,425,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% in the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 8,240 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,467,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $410.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.77 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total value of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.