Royal Harbor Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Royal Harbor Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,374 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Royal Harbor Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Royal Harbor Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second 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 during the period. BCK Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $428.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.45. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.