Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,913 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.7% of Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.58.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Microsoft stock opened at $424.60 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $326.94 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $420.33 and a 200 day moving average of $424.56.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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.