Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,586 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $430.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.