Christensen King & Associates Investment Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Christensen King & Associates Investment Services Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,961 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.6% of Christensen King & Associates Investment Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Christensen King & Associates Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 5,000 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 127.5% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 684,429 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $294,510,000 after buying an additional 383,542 shares during the period. Xcel Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Capital LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sierra Capital LLC now owns 15,673 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $28,878,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $451.59 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 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 capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $425.00 and its 200 day moving average is $427.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.