Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,392 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.2% of Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $454.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $425.79 and a 200-day moving average of $428.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced 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. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Microsoft 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.