Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is SouthState Corp's Largest Position

SouthState Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 194,846 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,815 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of SouthState Corp's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. SouthState Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $83,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $444.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,539,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.