Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Purchases Shares of 43,875 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 43,875 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $18,196,000. Microsoft comprises 3.9% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $427.99 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $362.90 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $421.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.44.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,431 shares of company stock worth $85,796,688 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.