Congress Park Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Congress Park Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,300 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 470 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.2% of Congress Park Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Congress Park Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,574 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,517,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 31,142 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,401,000 after buying an additional 2,516 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 31,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,369,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. BWM Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $888,000. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 13,014 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.99 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.