Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 105 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,163 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.1% of Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $442.33 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.