Maia Wealth LLC Boosts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Maia Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,900 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Maia Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Maia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,073 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,290,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. FCG Investment Co lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 25,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,428,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 253,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $422.37 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $369.01 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $428.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $427.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share 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 buy 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.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.