Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 508,110 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,988 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $218,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $408.43. The company had a trading volume of 22,671,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,704,654. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50 day moving average price is $428.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.