Financial Partners Group Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Partners Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,387 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.7% of Financial Partners Group Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Financial Partners Group Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 19,653 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,787,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,484,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.7% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 85,591 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,820,000 after purchasing an additional 5,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the second quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 33,420 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $428.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.95. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.