Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 183,153 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 12,870 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Ballentine Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $436.60. The stock had a trading volume of 54,224,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $427.02 and a 200 day moving average of $428.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.