Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Old North State Wealth Management LLC

Old North State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,681 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 67.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,566,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,348 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,299,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,304 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 31,648.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,871,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $423.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $366.50 and a 52-week 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $428.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.