Advisory Services & Investments LLC Has $5.35 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advisory Services & Investments LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,429 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.6% of Advisory Services & Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Advisory Services & Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $442.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $432.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction 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 trade represents 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 valued at $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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.