Straight Path Wealth Management Buys 124 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Straight Path Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 700 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Straight Path Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.93.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $428.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $429.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 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 market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. 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 previous year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.