Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Catalina Capital Group LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Catalina Capital Group LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,947 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,558 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.5% of Catalina Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.79. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $369.01 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.