Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,522 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,166 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.0% of Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $428.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $429.54 and its 200-day moving average is $425.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

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.