Oak Asset Management LLC Sells 37 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,854 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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 50 day moving average of $422.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.