Marquette Asset Management LLC Purchases 555 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,668 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.3% of Marquette Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Marquette Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 119,176 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,141,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,536 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,999,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $409,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $417.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $421.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.