World Equity Group Inc. Sells 7,835 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

World Equity Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,835 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

MSFT opened at $423.35 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $428.62 and its 200-day moving average is $428.08. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % 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 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is 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.