Source Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Source Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,593 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.2% of Source Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Source Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after buying an additional 2,404,348 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after buying an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after buying an additional 1,865,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.95 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $428.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.39. 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $380.38 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

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.