Mason & Associates Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mason & Associates Inc boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,580 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.1% of Mason & Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Castle Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,088 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 103,199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,807,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. MontVue Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $549,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 25,066 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,426,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $422.31 and its 200-day moving average is $423.73. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.