Valued Retirements Inc. Invests $1.85 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valued Retirements Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,295 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,848,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Valued Retirements Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,168 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,957,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 10.0% in the third quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,052 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,709,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 221,830 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,453,000 after buying an additional 7,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, High Falls Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. High Falls Advisors Inc now owns 8,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $411.44 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $431.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.