Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,697 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.6% of Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Seneca House Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 29,221 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,574,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Lwmg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lwmg LLC now owns 9,276 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 6,765 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,855,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 30,153 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $422.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.