Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $895.28 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,080,604 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 10,555 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $895,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson lowered shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $428.71 and a 200-day moving average of $428.38. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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

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.