Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Allen Capital Group LLC

Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,630 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,476 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.2% of Allen Capital Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Allen Capital Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.24.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded down $27.50 on Thursday, hitting $414.83. 47,641,351 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,904,332. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $432.55 and a 200-day moving average of $424.95. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.