Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Increased by Continuum Advisory LLC

Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,621 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,493 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of Continuum Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 103.8% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 55,675 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,957,000 after acquiring an additional 28,352 shares in the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 6.7% in the third quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 46,455 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 20,370 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,765,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 11,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,702,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $412.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $431.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.