Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.

Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 107,305 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,173,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Affiance Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 12,241 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 26,868 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,561,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 5.5% during the third quarter. Stonekeep Investments LLC now owns 5,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 1,381,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $594,467,000 after buying an additional 49,149 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $423.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $420.84 and its 200-day moving average is $426.55. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.