Tradition Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,186 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.3% of Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade 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 worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $412.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $432.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.