Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 647,548 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 264,687 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 10.5% of Brighton Jones LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $278,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $0.36 on Thursday, reaching $437.03. 21,883,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,589,182. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $426.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft 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.