Dock Street Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 97,868 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,414 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.7% of Dock Street Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Dock Street Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during 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.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $451.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % 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 worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

About Microsoft

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.