Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Raised by Evernest Financial Advisors LLC

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 389.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,778 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.2% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 62.0% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 35,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.7% during the first quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,948 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,975,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. 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 cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.63. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $364.13 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

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.