Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,517 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 108,678 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,574,000 after acquiring an additional 9,050 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,789,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 27,796 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,423,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,621 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.69. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $366.50 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.