Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Has $5.09 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,829 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 31,648.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,366,000 after buying an additional 1,865,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 128.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,160,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,412,656,000 after buying an additional 1,776,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $447.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $364.13 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $424.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.43.

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.