Clear Creek Financial Management LLC Acquires 579 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,473 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Clear Creek Financial Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 12.5% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 15,830 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 23,697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,080,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 12,802 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,722,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams & Novak LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day moving average of $428.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research 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.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

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.