Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,759 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 29,195 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,306,000 after purchasing an additional 5,874 shares during the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,465 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,725,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $2,441,000. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 88,289 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,214,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $408.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $425.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.