Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by AIFG Consultants Ltd.

AIFG Consultants Ltd. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 931 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. AIFG Consultants Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,363 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 58,695 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 8,389 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Benin Management CORP boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 62,032 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC now owns 12,309 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $424.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $427.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 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.