Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Nicola Wealth Management LTD.

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,160 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first 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 period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $2,367,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 74,807 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,178,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Finally, Enzi Wealth increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.7% in the second quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 1,806 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $429.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $429.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.37. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.