Arista Wealth Management LLC Buys 4,081 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 213.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,997 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,081 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Arista Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,272 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.5% in the first quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,742 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 20.7% in the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,904 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,468,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 71,127 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,925,000 after buying an additional 3,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $425.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.80. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $360.36 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.95 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.