Oak Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,854 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.5% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 398.0% in the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 71,438 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,577,000 after acquiring an additional 57,093 shares during the period. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management now owns 77,217 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,226,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 51,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,255,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 306,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,682,000 after buying an additional 3,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.0% during the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 42,556 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,312,000 after buying an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.05. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.75%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.