Okabena Investment Services Inc. Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,031 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,566 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.4% of Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $414.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.