Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,149 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.8% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $2.65 on Friday, hitting $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $431.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.82. 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 Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.66.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.