Corundum Trust Company INC Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Corundum Trust Company INC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,731 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.8% of Corundum Trust Company INC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Corundum Trust Company INC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $425.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.