FSA Advisors Inc. Has $3.28 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FSA Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,531 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 282 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.3% of FSA Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. FSA Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.1% during the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 108,678 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $48,574,000 after acquiring an additional 9,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $7,789,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 27,796 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,423,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,621 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,747,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $439.33 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $427.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment 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.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

About Microsoft

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.