Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 174 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,054 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.3% of Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cavalier Investments LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 11,859 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,455 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,790,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,066,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.6% during the third quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 7,262 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $427.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $428.69. 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 12 month low of $366.50 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.90.

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.