Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 10,007 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Argent Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 511,188 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,007 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.1% of Argent Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $219,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mason & Associates Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,760 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,200,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.8% in the third quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,861 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 133,162 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,300,000 after purchasing an additional 54,161 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 20,155 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,479,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 33,643 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,477,000 after buying an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $436.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 54,224,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. The company has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.