Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 508,110 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,988 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $218,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 445,759 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $191,812,000 after purchasing an additional 34,261 shares during the period. Castellan Group raised its position in Microsoft by 5.2% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 21,154 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 187.7% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 16,219 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,979,000 after acquiring an additional 10,581 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1,972.5% during the third quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 36,269 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,607,000 after acquiring an additional 34,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Microsoft by 52.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 425,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $183,038,000 after acquiring an additional 146,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $430.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Company 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.