JMG Financial Group Ltd. Sells 87 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

JMG Financial Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,643 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 10,478 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,509,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 41,184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 22,694 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,767,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 12,985 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,587,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $437.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $426.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $428.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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

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.