Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 253,467 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,290 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.9% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phoenix Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 17,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 16,798 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. ARGI Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. ARGI Investment Services LLC now owns 37,326 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,586,000 after buying an additional 3,358 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 26,082 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Seaview Investment Managers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Seaview Investment Managers LLC now owns 26,839 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,893,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $242.58 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $315.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The software giant reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $50.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.70 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 42.10% and a net margin of 34.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 29.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Credit Suisse Group set a $365.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Friday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $305.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 24,144 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.27, for a total transaction of $6,139,094.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,152,450.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.