Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Altus Wealth Group LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,458 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,679 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.8% of Altus Wealth Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Altus Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rebalance LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 330,573 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $142,246,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 897,433 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $386,165,000 after acquiring an additional 56,467 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,392 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,332,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the period. Finally, Chris Bulman Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 5.5% in the third quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 2,607 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $425.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.04. 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 $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.