Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Acquires 1,343 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,128 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $417.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $421.94 and its 200 day moving average is $426.30. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 firm 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 firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.