Stiles Financial Services Inc Has $6.67 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,501 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.4% of Stiles Financial Services Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 21,670 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,326,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 12,962 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 436,564 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $187,853,000 after buying an additional 49,544 shares during the period. Presidio Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Bensler LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 98,849 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $380.38 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $428.83 and its 200-day moving average is $427.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.