Golden State Equity Partners Sells 1,289 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Golden State Equity Partners trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,732 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.5% of Golden State Equity Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % 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 ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $428.90 and its 200-day moving average is $428.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.