Cypress Capital Group Has $36.16 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,043 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.1% of Cypress Capital Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $548.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $434.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.30.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft Company 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.