Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC

Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,163 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.2% of Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9 %

MSFT stock opened at $408.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 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 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $425.20 and a 200-day moving average of $422.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.