Atlas Private Wealth Management Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 29th, 2023

Atlas Private Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 33.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,258 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,810 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Atlas Private Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Atlas Private Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 634,238,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,714,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,129,708 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 295,509,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,824,173,000 after buying an additional 1,951,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,523,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,810,889,000 after buying an additional 1,537,712 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 195,859,819 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,302,677,000 after acquiring an additional 556,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders sold a total of 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $313.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $327.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $317.25. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $213.43 and a twelve month high of $366.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.03.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis 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.