Paragon Financial Partners Inc. Sells 196 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Paragon Financial Partners Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,129 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $846,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $437.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $420.93 and its 200 day moving average is $426.78. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,578 shares of company stock valued at $39,679,056 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.