Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,538 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 743 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $426.31 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $429.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.72. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $384.81 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. 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 business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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. Loop Capital upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.