Transcendent Capital Group LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,426 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.4% of Transcendent Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Transcendent Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,435 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,558,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 48,098 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,498,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

MSFT opened at $417.19 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $384.81 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $429.00 and a 200-day moving average of $426.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.