Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Halpern Financial Inc.

Halpern Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 660 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Halpern Financial Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,710 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,760,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Seneca House Advisors increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 29,221 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,574,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Lwmg LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. Lwmg LLC now owns 9,276 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $422.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock worth $80,966,837 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.