Key Financial Inc Has $12.72 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,568 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of Key Financial Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,401 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after purchasing an additional 42,778 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, 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 owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.