Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV Has $5.52 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 32.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,825 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,139 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.2% of Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.60 on Friday. 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 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $427.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $428.32. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.46.

Microsoft Profile

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.