Maia Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Maia Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,900 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Maia Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Maia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital increased 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, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $369.01 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $428.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.