Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Global Assets Advisory LLC

Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,964 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Global Assets Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $437.03 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $426.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.26. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.