Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 870,103 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $374,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,091,789 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,768,771,000 after buying an additional 1,563,533 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 18,388,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,912,402,000 after buying an additional 251,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,651,058 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,734,651,000 after buying an additional 501,954 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $429.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.57.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.53.

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.