Valley National Advisers Inc. Has $19.50 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valley National Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,325 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 13,394 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.5% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $439.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $427.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

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.