Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Reduced by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 192,999 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,592 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $83,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.5% in the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 12,468 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,365,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,490,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,084 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,909,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Arrow Financial Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 58,505 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,175,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Solution LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 33.1% in the third quarter. Retirement Solution LLC now owns 39,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,001,000 after buying an additional 9,827 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

MSFT stock opened at $417.19 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $384.81 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $429.00 and its 200-day moving average is $426.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

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.