W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Has $47.53 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,466 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 694 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.1% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Princeton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 56,712 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $24,403,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% during the third quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,478 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,963,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.5% during the 3rd quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 141,549 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $60,909,000 after buying an additional 19,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 14,638 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value 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 approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $431.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.54. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $512.66.

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.