Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 201,178 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.3% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the second quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,162 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 15.2% in the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 12,206 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,455,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Financial Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,254,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $424.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $428.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.59. 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 $371.19 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research 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.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.