Arista Wealth Management LLC Has $2.67 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,212 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Arista Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Landmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $531,000. Clarity Financial LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 8.9% in the third quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 58,464 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,157,000 after purchasing an additional 4,786 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.8% during the third quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 35,773 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,393,000 after buying an additional 2,586 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,879 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,706,000 after purchasing an additional 6,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% in the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 42,195 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,157,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, 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 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $369.01 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $428.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.95.

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

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

About Microsoft

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.