Portside Wealth Group LLC Sells 1,835 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Portside Wealth Group LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,362 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Portside Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.0% in the third quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 35,982 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,483,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 13,327 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,735,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 9,329 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares during the last quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC now owns 9,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.6% during the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 27,867 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $371.19 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $428.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $427.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $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.