Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Has $27.64 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,236 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,936 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $430.47 and its 200 day moving average is $425.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $512.66.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

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.