Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC Takes $2.94 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,823 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,936,000. Microsoft makes up 1.1% of Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $2,645,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.9% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 106,292 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.36.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $449.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $422.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.