Tributary Capital Management LLC Sells 137 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tributary Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,176 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,054 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Cavalier Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 11,859 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,455 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,790,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,864,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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, Mizuho raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $427.76 and its 200 day moving average is $428.69. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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