Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by TruWealth Advisors LLC

TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 87,206 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.3% of TruWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. TruWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rebalance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,578 shares of company stock worth $24,450,096. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $443.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $364.13 and a 52 week 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $421.47 and a 200-day moving average of $427.00.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

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.