Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $86.04 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 199,959 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,958 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.1% of Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 18,126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,799,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,798,000. Prudent Investors Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Prudent Investors Network Inc. now owns 33,843 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,783,950 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $767,098,000 after acquiring an additional 13,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trademark Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trademark Financial Management LLC now owns 2,591 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $424.56 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $371.19 and a 12-month 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 company earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

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.