Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Spinnaker Trust’s 9th Largest Position

Spinnaker Trust reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,960 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 972 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Spinnaker Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $50,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after buying an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.