Austin Asset Management Co Inc Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Austin Asset Management Co Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,862 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.4% of Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,624 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,796,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 20,282 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,533,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in Microsoft by 9.9% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 28,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,570 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.5% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 41,442 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV now owns 13,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $417.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 $384.81 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $429.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.98.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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