Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lifted by Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc.

Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,670 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.1% of Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 67.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,566,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,348 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 56.9% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average is $427.53. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $380.38 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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. 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 payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.