Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 17th, 2023

Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,512,947 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 361,996 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.3% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $362,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,714,197,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129,708 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Microsoft by 13.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 30,893,155 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,524,669,000 after acquiring an additional 3,757,500 shares during the period. Cottage Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 17,734.7% in the fourth quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,763,300 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 73.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,172,257 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,903,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.15% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $311.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.93. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $313.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $286.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $1,550,250.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,206 shares in the company, valued at $34,169,370.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,272,990. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,767 shares of company stock valued at $13,462,861. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen cut their price target on Microsoft from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. BNP Paribas downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $280.00 to $322.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.28.

Microsoft Company Profile

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.