Waycross Investment Management Co Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Waycross Investment Management Co lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,966 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.8% of Waycross Investment Management Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Waycross Investment Management Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corrigan Financial Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Corrigan Financial Inc. now owns 4,483 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,929,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 38,804 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,685,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 20,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,710 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,760,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.49 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $422.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

About Microsoft

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.