Carter Financial Group INC. Acquires Shares of 6,677 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Carter Financial Group INC. acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,677 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,000. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of Carter Financial Group INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. TT Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 1,833 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 101.8% in the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,686 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,887,000 after acquiring an additional 24,059 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 10,227 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,087,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $1,919,000. Finally, Tull Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 15.4% in the second quarter. Tull Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $474.82 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $502.98 and its 200 day moving average is $502.77. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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.