MBA Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MBA Advisors LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,043 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.9% of MBA Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $729,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 3,009 shares during the period. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,629 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,749,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,004 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,192,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,868 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.87. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week 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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

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.