Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,793 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.7% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second 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 last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third 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 period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.56 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $428.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.59. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $371.19 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.