2,228 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC

Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,121 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the second quarter. Box Hill Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the second quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Mann Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mann Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,921 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.37, for a total transaction of $3,976,622.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 548,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,364,297.67. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 142,809 shares of company stock worth $72,114,646. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $521.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $518.20 and its 200 day moving average is $441.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $559.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.46%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

These are some of the MSFT stories that stood out recently:

• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore said Anthropic’s Claude Sheets is not yet a substitute for Excel, tempering concerns that the new tools will quickly displace Microsoft 365. Still, the launch puts competitive pressure on Microsoft’s productivity products and Copilot. Evercore weighs disruption concerns after Claude Sheets launch
• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools—including spreadsheet and data-focused products—are the clearest near-term overhang, raising fears that AI competitors could challenge Microsoft’s large Office and productivity-software business. Microsoft stock slides after Anthropic launches productivity tools
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported $10.9 billion quarterly adjusted operating loss has renewed questions about the profitability of Microsoft’s major AI partnership and the returns on its AI investment. Microsoft’s OpenAI bet and questions raised by Anthropic’s profit lead

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.54.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.