Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,777 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.72.

Microsoft Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $432.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.