Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Callahan Advisors LLC

Callahan Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,061 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leslie Global Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Invictus Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Invictus Private Wealth LLC now owns 90,577 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,975,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC now owns 25,813 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,107,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 5.5% during the third quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 30,087 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 38,872 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,727,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The firm 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. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $369.01 and a twelve month 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $428.45 and a 200 day moving average of $427.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.