Triad Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 1,421 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Triad Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,363 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.6% of Triad Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Triad Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 17,522 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,372,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 6,734,231 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,831,742,000 after purchasing an additional 66,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $424.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.64. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $364.13 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS 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 company 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 company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.