Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC Acquires 133 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,627 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.4% of Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Custom Index Systems LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 7,262 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the third quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,706 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,550,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 24,243 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,432,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 31.7% in the third quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 6,701 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

Microsoft stock opened at $439.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $427.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

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.