Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc.

Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,524 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.6% in the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 112,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $48,525,000 after purchasing an additional 9,850 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 2,136 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 16,774 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,218,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 5.2% in the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 43,681 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,796,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $1,904,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $426.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $429.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.72. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $384.81 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.