Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Has $29.38 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,273 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,385 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 51,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,255,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 306,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 13.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 42,556 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,312,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% in the third quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,388 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,100,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $414.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $422.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.05. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.75%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.