Towerpoint Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Towerpoint Wealth LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,487 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,529 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.9% of Towerpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Towerpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $422.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $423.01. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.