Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,868 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,170 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Rebalance LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners grew its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $433.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.