BetterWealth LLC Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BetterWealth LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,839 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,274 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.4% of BetterWealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. BetterWealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 241.4% in 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $437.39 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $426.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.