Madison Wealth Partners Inc Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Madison Wealth Partners Inc cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,534 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Madison Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Madison Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $410.37 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.77 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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 $3.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

About Microsoft

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.