Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s Largest Position

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,384,547 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 31,945 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 10.6% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,004,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 6.2 %

MSFT stock traded down $27.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $414.99. 53,865,877 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,496,486. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $432.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.24.

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.