Paragon Capital Management LLC Has $19.56 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Paragon Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,448 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 492 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 10.1% of Paragon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Paragon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,284 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,007,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,866,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 29,870 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,853,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 5,047 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 6.5% in the third quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 1,628 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three equities 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value 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 $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 is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $384.81 and a fifty-two 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $429.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.