Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,685 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 7.0% of SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the third quarter. Financial Advisory Partners LLC now owns 13,532 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,823,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 88,792 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,207,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,678 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 29.5% during the third quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 4,443 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,912,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadinha & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 53,156 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $22,873,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $427.99 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $421.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.