1,610 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Decker Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Decker Wealth Management increased its Microsoft stake by 6.7% in the third quarter, adding 1,610 shares to bring its holding to 25,488 shares, valued at about $13.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Microsoft has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $609.54, though Griffin Securities downgraded the stock to neutral.
• Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 18.8% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share. Insiders sold about 147,809 shares over the past three months.

Decker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,488 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of Decker Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Decker Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.00, for a total value of $2,655,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,892,772. This trade represents a 8.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 147,809 shares of company stock valued at $74,769,646 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $662.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Griffin Securities cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.54.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are a few of the latest headlines about MSFT:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is collaborating with DuPont and NobleAI on AI-enabled research and development, adding another potential application for its AI technology. DuPont, Microsoft and NobleAI collaborate in R&D innovation with AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Griffin Securities downgraded Microsoft to neutral despite Azure’s reported 48% growth, adding a cautious analyst view amid market volatility. Azure Grew 48%, Yet Griffin Securities Downgraded Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic’s new workplace tools, including spreadsheet software, are intensifying concerns about competition with Microsoft 365 and Copilot. Microsoft Stock Falls as Anthropic Takes Aim at Office Work

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $523.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.05. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $559.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $518.72 and a 200-day moving average of $441.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.13 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.00%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, and digital solutions for consumers, businesses, and public-sector organizations. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.