Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Orleans Capital Management Corp LA

Orleans Capital Management Corp LA lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,521 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.1% of Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 7,240 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,236,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.7% during the second quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,114 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,202,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 23,870 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 26,121 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,675,000 after buying an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,037,000 after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $422.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.