Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,837 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 worth $47,612,000 after buying an additional 43,327 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,099,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 173,802 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $73,122,000 after buying an additional 18,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% during the first quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 334,201 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $140,605,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 212,931 shares of company stock valued at $87,297,343 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $430.98 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $420.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.