Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 473 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,603 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 473 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $436.60 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $427.02 and its 200-day moving average is $428.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

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.