Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,620 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.6% of Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. now owns 16,583 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,135,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.7% during the third quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 23,934 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,292,000 after buying an additional 8,055 shares during the period. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 15,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,537,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 5.9% during the third quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 11,545 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,968,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 12,264 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,277,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $447.27 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $364.13 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $424.16 and a 200-day moving average of $427.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.