Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Has $60.77 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,215 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 391 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.8% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Broderick Brian C boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 52,405 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,361 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,444,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $423.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $420.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $362.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.