Gordian Advisors LLC Purchases 8,602 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gordian Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 481.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,388 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,602 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.6% of Gordian Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Gordian Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted 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 worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% in the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,073 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,290,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 25,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,428,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 253,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,780 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $369.01 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $428.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.