Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,559,944 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,035 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.1% of Creative Planning’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Creative Planning’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,095,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 173,802 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $73,122,000 after purchasing an additional 18,888 shares during the period. Finally, Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 334,201 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $140,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 212,931 shares of company stock valued at $87,297,343 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $430.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.