Brookstone Capital Management Buys 25,884 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,709 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 25,884 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of Brookstone Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 113,168 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,612,000 after purchasing an additional 43,327 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 119,176 shares of the software giant's stock worth $50,141,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,536 shares of the software giant's stock worth $19,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $409,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock valued at $74,956,968 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.13 on Friday, hitting $417.00. The company had a trading volume of 24,814,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's 50-day moving average is $421.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.