Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC Purchases 2,317 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,438 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Management Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 72.3% in the third quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 8,005 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 3,360 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp now owns 51,069 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,975,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 95,231 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $40,978,000 after buying an additional 22,075 shares in the last quarter. North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.5% during the third quarter. North Ridge Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,907 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the period. Finally, Tarbox Family Office Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% in the third quarter. Tarbox Family Office Inc. now owns 9,183 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,951,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $436.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $427.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.46.

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.