Marotta Asset Management Sells 265 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marotta Asset Management decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,869 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 161,605 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $67,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 68,881 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,980,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 54.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,095,000 after buying an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $422.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 24.75%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.