Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,195 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.7% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. James J. Burns & Company LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 11,173 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,808,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,732 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Legacy CG LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 15,407 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 11,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 454,055 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $195,380,000 after purchasing an additional 83,239 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $428.62 and its 200-day moving average is $428.08. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $366.50 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

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.