Sendero Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,657 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.8% of Sendero Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sendero Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. GEM Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. GEM Asset Management LLC now owns 11,473 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,699,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,964 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,427,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 16,731 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.9% during the third quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 44,685 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% during the third quarter. Financial Advisory Partners LLC now owns 13,532 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,823,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $427.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft 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.