Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Sells 1,422 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,251 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,422 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.0% of Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy CG LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 15,407 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% in the third quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 11,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 454,055 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $195,380,000 after purchasing an additional 83,239 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 40,010 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,216,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.6% in the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,404 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,386,000 after buying an additional 4,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $423.35 on Monday. 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 current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $428.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.