Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Clarity Capital Partners LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Clarity Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,278 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.9% of Clarity Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Clarity Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.35 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $428.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.08. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.