Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. 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 50-day simple moving average of $422.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.