ABLE Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,163 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.9% of ABLE Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. ABLE Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP raised its holdings in Microsoft by 9.7% during the third quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 15,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 40.0% during the third quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Quantum Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,482 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,140,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 15,501 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,674,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the third quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 21,670 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,326,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, 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 is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $380.38 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $428.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered 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. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.62.

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.