Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by GM Advisory Group LLC

GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,456 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of GM Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. GM Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.24.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $27.34 on Thursday, hitting $414.99. 53,865,877 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,496,486. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.95. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.