Guardian Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,305 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.9% of Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.0% in the third quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,291 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,289,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 41,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,983,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the third quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,755 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,641,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 13,643 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Kelly Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.1% in the third quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Microsoft stock opened at $418.79 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $421.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 0.79%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.
Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Microsoft 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.
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