Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 505,091 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,412 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.4% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $217,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. ACT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the second quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 35,272 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,765,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 52,516 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,472,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $430.53 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $366.50 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $428.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.