Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Winthrop Advisory Group LLC

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,827 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,131 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $409.40 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $428.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,333,540 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.