Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,254 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,490 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $417.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $421.94 and a 200 day moving average of $426.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.