Trajan Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,902 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.1% of Trajan Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first 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. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,051,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.3% in the second quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 7,752 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,465,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.1% during the second quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 846 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,102,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $430.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $428.90 and its 200 day moving average is $428.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.37 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.
Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.
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