Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 39,170 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $16,787,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% during the third quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 40,586 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Continental Investors Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continental Investors Services Inc. now owns 2,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Financial Avengers Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 15,667 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,741,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unconventional Investor LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.4% during the third quarter. Unconventional Investor LLC now owns 604 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $409.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $430.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.