Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Abel Hall LLC

Abel Hall LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,093 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.3% of Abel Hall LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $2,794,000. Raelipskie Partnership lifted its position in Microsoft by 7.9% during the third quarter. Raelipskie Partnership now owns 19,850 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.7% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 43,621 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,621,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 103.8% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 55,675 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,957,000 after purchasing an additional 28,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $431.44 and its 200 day moving average is $423.41. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.