Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by McNamara Financial Services Inc.

McNamara Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 734 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. McNamara Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Evexia Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 30,757 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 27,916 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,012,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Atwater Malick LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 18,563 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,988,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 522,876 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $224,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 466,344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $200,664,000 after acquiring an additional 10,140 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $423.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $420.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Company 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.