BIP Wealth LLC Buys 2,132 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BIP Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,638 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,132 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The stock's fifty day moving average is $431.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.54. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) 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 business 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%. Microsoft'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 firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.