Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Carret Asset Management LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,700 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.6% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the third quarter. ShoreHaven Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.9% during the third quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 656 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Manchester Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.7% during the third quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 12,431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,349,000 after buying an additional 3,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcrae Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 10.8% during the third quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 75,039 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,289,000 after purchasing an additional 7,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $427.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.