Raymond James & Associates Increases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,231,478 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,380 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.9% of Raymond James & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.15% of Microsoft worth $4,832,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chronos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,295 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,897,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195,009 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $83,912,000 after purchasing an additional 7,763 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 199,112 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $85,678,000 after purchasing an additional 3,605 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 29.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 118,233 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $52,844,000 after purchasing an additional 27,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% during the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,900,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6 %

MSFT stock opened at $443.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $364.13 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $421.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $504.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value 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 approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.