Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,996 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 11,716 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $111,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 78.8% in the third quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,460 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 23,557 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 6,438 shares in the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 41,086 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,680,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 19,407 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,351,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,498,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

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

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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business 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 revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.