Summit Asset Management LLC Has $7.22 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Summit Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,767 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of Summit Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Summit Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $429.03. The stock had a trading volume of 26,146,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $429.32 and a 200 day moving average of $426.37. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.93.

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.