Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,463 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.0% of Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 110,410 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,509,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Resolute Advisors LLC now owns 1,833 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 61,115 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,298,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% during the third quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. now owns 3,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $324,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $380.38 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This 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 valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.