Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC's 7th Largest Position

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,365 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,749 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.9% of Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,578 shares of company stock valued at $40,553,696. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $0.95 on Friday, reaching $443.57. 18,811,895 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,931,472. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $364.13 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $421.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Company 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.