MADDEN SECURITIES Corp Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MADDEN SECURITIES Corp lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,368 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.9% of MADDEN SECURITIES Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 278,392 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $119,722,000 after acquiring an additional 87,377 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,347 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,592,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 180.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 10,777 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,637,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 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. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $421.07 and its 200-day moving average is $426.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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 for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.