Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Clarity Financial LLC

Clarity Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,464 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,786 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.9% of Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % 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 worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $428.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 believes its stock is undervalued.

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.