Bard Financial Services Inc. Has $68.53 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,258 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 33,300 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 8.1% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $430.67 and its 200 day moving average is $423.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.