Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Increased by Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC

Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 180.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $41,318,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 55.9% in the second quarter. New Harbor Financial Group LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 430,730 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $192,515,000 after acquiring an additional 8,290 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the second quarter. Quest Investment Management LLC now owns 156,258 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $69,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $422.99 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $421.07 and a 200-day moving average of $426.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. 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 yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.