Leslie Global Wealth LLC Acquires 338 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Leslie Global Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,791 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.6% of Leslie Global Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Leslie Global Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Invictus Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invictus Private Wealth LLC now owns 90,577 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $38,975,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC now owns 25,813 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,107,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 30,087 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 38,872 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,727,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 31,381 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,503,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $369.01 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid 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 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.