Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,758 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. New Harbor Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,737,000 after buying an additional 10,421 shares during the period. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 77,339 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,279,000 after acquiring an additional 5,174 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $446.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $421.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.11. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $364.13 and a one year 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 51,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,700 shares of company stock worth $16,265,367 in the last 90 days. 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.