Waldron Private Wealth LLC Purchases 3,541 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 91,918 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leo Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 20.6% in the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 42,867 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,445,000 after purchasing an additional 7,317 shares in the last quarter. WT Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the third quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 22,601 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,451,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 5,000 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 127.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 684,429 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $294,510,000 after purchasing an additional 383,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xcel Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $451.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $425.00 and a 200 day moving average of $427.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

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.