Mather Group LLC. Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mather Group LLC. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,056 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 17,463 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $422.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.05. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.