Creekside Partners Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Creekside Partners lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,377 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.4% of Creekside Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Creekside Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 345,300 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,583,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Microsoft by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 444,116 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $191,103,000 after purchasing an additional 38,982 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 220,851 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,032,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 15,151 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,520,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 41,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,803,000 after purchasing an additional 8,826 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $434.56 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

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.