Chesapeake Wealth Management Sells 192 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chesapeake Wealth Management decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,133 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.4% of Chesapeake Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,149 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 17.4% during the third quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 110,331 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,476,000 after acquiring an additional 16,384 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 60,573 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 229,860 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $98,909,000 after purchasing an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $430.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, 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 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.