High Falls Advisors Inc Acquires 129 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

High Falls Advisors Inc raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,427 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $431.44 and a 200-day moving average of $423.41. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.