Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,982 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,814 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.2% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $425.98 and a 200 day moving average of $422.79. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.