Paragon Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Paragon Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,468 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in 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 period. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $428.50 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $429.54 and its 200 day moving average is $425.92. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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