ForthRight Wealth Management LLC Acquires 49 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ForthRight Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,178 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. ForthRight Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $424.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $428.90 and a 200-day moving average of $428.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was 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 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.