Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Acquires 846 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,064 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 846 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.3% of Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $369.01 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $428.64 and its 200-day moving average is $427.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.