Joule Financial LLC Sells 416 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Joule Financial LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,299 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 416 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.5% of Joule Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in Microsoft by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% in the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 77,339 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $33,279,000 after purchasing an additional 5,174 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $446.02 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $364.13 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $421.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $427.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total transaction of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at $22,675,916.64. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,700 shares of company stock worth $16,265,367 in the last three months. Corporate 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.