Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. Sells 350 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,660 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 273,072 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $117,503,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 91,502 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,164 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,525,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $729,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 3,009 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $430.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.87. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.