Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,075 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 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 twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

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.