Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Sells 4,039 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,445 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,039 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.7% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $423.35 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $428.71 and its 200-day moving average is $428.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.