Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 238,855 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,095 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.9% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second 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 during the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.03.
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $417.00 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.75%.
Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
See Also
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