Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,783 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.3% of West Michigan Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its position in Microsoft by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 37,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $1,944,000. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV lifted its stake in Microsoft by 24.1% during the third quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 4,706 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.1% during the third quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 13,456 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,790,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 51,881 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,325,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $436.60 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was 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 Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.