Thrive Wealth Management LLC Has $10.14 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,557 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,612,000 after acquiring an additional 43,327 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 21,363 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,988,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 183,111 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $77,038,000 after acquiring an additional 5,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 44.9% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $417.79 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $422.62 and a 200-day moving average of $426.21. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $362.90 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

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.