Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 71 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,251 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.8% of Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Austin Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.0% during the third quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,593 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Nikulski Financial Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 20,546 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,841,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 770,330 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $331,473,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471 shares during the last quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $966,000. Finally, Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 38.5% in the third quarter. Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. now owns 1,800 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.83 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $428.90 and its 200 day moving average is $428.85. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly 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. The business 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 was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.