Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,870 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $10.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $426.03. 8,688,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,715,867. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $384.81 and a 52 week 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $429.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $511.62.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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