DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 41.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,453 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.3% of DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,774 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,357,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 1,147,858 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $493,923,000 after purchasing an additional 43,485 shares during the period. Heirloom Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 53,604 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 87,206 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,516.9% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,219 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,397,000 after buying an additional 9,587 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,578 shares of company stock valued at $24,450,096 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $443.57 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $364.13 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $421.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.