Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Raised by Jackson Wealth Management LLC

Jackson Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 68.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,162 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 54,161 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 6.8% of Jackson Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Jackson Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rebalance LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Microsoft stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $436.60. 54,224,020 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. 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 $3.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business's 50-day moving average price is $427.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.