HBW Advisory Services LLC Acquires 800 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,694 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $428.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $422.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.