Private Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 103 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 701 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake 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 stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third 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 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $429.03 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $429.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.53.

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.