Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Consolidated Planning Corp's 8th Largest Position

Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,982 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.3% of Consolidated Planning Corp's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Consolidated Planning Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after purchasing an additional 97,075 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,563,533 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,651,058 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,734,651,000 after purchasing an additional 501,954 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,738,956 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,587,576,000 after buying an additional 45,220 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.56 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $371.19 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $428.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

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.