ORG Partners LLC Purchases 6,817 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 55.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,064 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of ORG Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $408.43 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $428.76 and a 200 day moving average of $422.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.