Waldron Private Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,918 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,541 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $451.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $425.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.76. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.43.

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.