Maple Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,466 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,719 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 8.4% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $109,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $447.27 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $364.13 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $424.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $427.61.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction 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 $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.