BSW Wealth Partners Purchases 832 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BSW Wealth Partners grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,223 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of BSW Wealth Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $366.50 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $428.71 and its 200 day moving average is $428.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.