YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,706 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,849 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of YHB Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 12,985 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,587,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. McAdam LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 16,273 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,002,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $437.03. The stock had a trading volume of 21,883,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,589,182. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $426.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.26. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade 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 valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.46.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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