Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,352 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 591 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,912,402,000 after purchasing an additional 251,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,651,058 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,734,651,000 after purchasing an additional 501,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $384.81 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $429.21 and a 200 day moving average of $426.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. 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 is presently 27.39%.

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.