Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lowered by Heritage Family Offices LLP

Heritage Family Offices LLP cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,338 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Heritage Family Offices LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Heritage Family Offices LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,880 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,650,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,582 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,123,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Provident Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Provident Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 7,467 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft by 10.9% during the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 51,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,675,916.64. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,578 shares of company stock worth $40,553,696. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $443.57 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $364.13 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $421.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.36.

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.