Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Decreased by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,116 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,148 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.8% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $421.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average is $428.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

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.