Semus Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,180 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.4% of Semus Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Semus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wharton Business Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC now owns 18,158 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,813,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Tidemark LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,236 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,641,000 after buying an additional 2,936 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,777 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,662,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $444.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $430.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 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.