Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lowered by Trueblood Wealth Management LLC

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,618 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.9% of Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 389.2% during the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Harbor Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $427.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective 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-six have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $508.46.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.