Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 548,630 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 81,887 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.5% of Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $236,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second 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 bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

MSFT opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $369.01 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $428.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $427.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.