Barrett & Company Inc. Has $3.65 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Barrett & Company Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,474 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.6% of Barrett & Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $428.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.86. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

Microsoft 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.