Selective Wealth Management Inc. Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 23rd, 2023

Selective Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,730 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Selective Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 29,789.2% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,477,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.03.

Get Our Latest Report on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $317.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $331.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $315.11. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $366.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.07%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,963,391.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile

(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.