Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC Sells 106 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,759 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 29,195 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,306,000 after purchasing an additional 5,874 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,465 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,441,000. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 88,289 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $408.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $425.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.