MRA Advisory Group Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MRA Advisory Group trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,292 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 890 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.8% of MRA Advisory Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $422.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.13. 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, 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 for 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 business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft Company 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.