Hoertkorn Richard Charles Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hoertkorn Richard Charles trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,767 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 8.3% of Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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. Finally, 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $437.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $426.62 and its 200 day moving average is $428.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.