Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Precedent Wealth Partners LLC

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,349 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 372 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.2% of Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,737,000 after buying an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 77,339 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,279,000 after buying an additional 5,174 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,700 shares of company stock worth $16,265,367 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

MSFT opened at $446.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $421.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.11. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $364.13 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.