Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Eastover Investment Advisors LLC

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,104 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 78.8% during the third quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,460 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 23,557 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,137,000 after acquiring an additional 6,438 shares in the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 41,086 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,680,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 19,407 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,351,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the third quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,498,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $417.00. The company had a trading volume of 24,814,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $421.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.19. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 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.