Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,871 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $421.94 and a 200-day 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.