Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,645 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.2% of Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $443.57 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $421.47 and its 200 day moving average is $427.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $364.13 and a 1-year 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total transaction of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,578 shares of company stock worth $24,450,096. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.