Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Has $31.95 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,254 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,490 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $417.00. 24,814,626 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,244,906. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 moving average price of $421.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.99 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.