Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Increased by Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,128 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.9% of Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 23,599 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,155,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 103.0% in the third quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,552 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 18,952 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,155,000 after buying an additional 3,326 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 26,460 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,386,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,087,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $421.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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.