Physicians Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,876 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.7% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.2% during the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,453 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,119,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.3% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 10,266 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.3% in the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 23,504 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,505,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 8.2% in the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 19,092 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $427.53. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $380.38 and a twelve month high of $468.35.
Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
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.
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