FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC Buys 419 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,138 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 419 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Iams Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,559,944 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,095,588,000 after buying an additional 67,035 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 295,274 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $127,056,000 after acquiring an additional 10,611 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 67,320 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,968,000 after buying an additional 3,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 691 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $430.98 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $420.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.