Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Windle Wealth LLC

Windle Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,348 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.8% of Windle Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Windle Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % 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 corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $444.06. 15,539,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,490,811. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $431.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.82. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.