Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,037 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $423.35 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $428.62 and a 200-day moving average of $428.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm 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 revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three 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.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

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.