Oxler Private Wealth LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oxler Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,471 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.7% of Oxler Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Oxler Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,319 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,652,000. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth $2,021,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $2,678,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 4,435 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 212,931 shares of company stock valued at $87,297,343 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization 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’s fifty day moving average is $420.84 and its 200-day moving average is $426.55. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research 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. 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.