CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. Sells 212 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,977 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. James Hambro & Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP now owns 360,861 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $155,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. Clarus Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clarus Group Inc. now owns 19,875 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,552,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc now owns 2,106 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.3% in the third quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,363 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,890,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $424.16 and a 200-day moving average of $427.63. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $364.13 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.43.

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.