Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Canal Capital Management LLC

Canal Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,082 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.2% of Canal Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Canal Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $436.60. 54,224,020 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.42. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.46.

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.