Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 180.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.1% of Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,722,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 4,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $422.99 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $421.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.