GDS Wealth Management Purchases 2,142 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GDS Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,681 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of GDS Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $426.31 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $384.81 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $429.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.