Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lifted by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 173,303 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 50,630 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 23,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 278,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $119,770,000 after purchasing an additional 8,099 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 890 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 19.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 21,871 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,411,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,835 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,190,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $423.46 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $362.90 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $420.84 and its 200 day moving average is $426.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.