Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Co.

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC has boosted its investment position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.0% during the third quarter, as revealed in their recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of this increase, the institutional investor now holds a total of 59,389 shares in the technology giant, having purchased an additional 5,896 shares in that time period. Microsoft constitutes approximately 3.0% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC's entire investment portfolio, ranking it as their 6th largest position. At the end of the latest reporting period, the value of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft reached around $25,555,000.

Institutional Investors Adjust Their Microsoft Holdings

Other institutional investors have also been adjusting their positions in Microsoft. For instance, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings by a significant 169.2% in the second quarter, acquiring a further 44 shares to bring their total to 70 shares valued at about $31,000. Quarry LP entered the scene by purchasing a new stake in Microsoft's stock valued approximately at $45,000 during the same quarter. Furthermore, Innealta Capital LLC established a new position in Microsoft worth around $75,000, while Bellevue Group AG raised its stake by 47.5% in the first quarter, eventually managing 180 shares valued at $76,000 after buying another 58 shares. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC had a remarkable increase in their holdings, raising their stake by 241.4% in the second quarter to own 379 shares valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares. Currently, hedge funds and other institutional investors possess about 71.13% of Microsoft's stock.

Updates on Analyst Ratings

Several research analysts have commented on Microsoft's stock recently. UBS Group lowered their price target for Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating. Morgan Stanley has increased their price target from $506.00 to $548.00, also granting a rating of "overweight". Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating with a price target of $600.00 on October 28th. However, Oppenheimer adjusted their viewpoint by lowering Microsoft's rating from "outperform" to "market perform". Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a price target of $500.00 on November 5th. The consensus amongst equities research analysts currently stands with two hold ratings and twenty-seven buy ratings for Microsoft shares. According to MarketBeat.com, the average rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $504.36.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In recent insider trading news, Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Christopher David Young, sold 7,200 shares on November 12th for an average price of $423.66, totaling a transaction amount of $3,050,352. Following this sale, Young retains ownership of 103,366 shares, which are valued at roughly $43,792,039.56, marking a decrease of 6.51% in his holding. In another transaction, Chief Marketing Officer Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares on November 22nd at an average price of $414.72, totaling $414,720. After this sale, Numoto holds 57,511 shares valued at around $23,850,961.92, reflecting a 1.71% decrease in ownership. Collectively, insiders sold 38,700 shares worth approximately $16,265,367 over the past three months, with corporate insiders owning merely 0.03% of the company's shares.

Microsoft's Stock Performance

As of Tuesday, Microsoft's shares (NASDAQ:MSFT) opened at $446.02. The organization boasts a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion and a PE ratio of 36.80. Its current ratio is 1.30, while the quick ratio is 1.29, and the debt-to-equity ratio stands at 0.15. Over the past year, Microsoft shares reached a low of $364.13 and a high of $468.35. The fifty-day and 200-day simple moving averages are $421.78 and $427.11, respectively. Microsoft's most recent earnings report was on October 30th, where it recorded earnings per share (EPS) of $3.30, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.10, alongside quarterly revenues that hit $65.59 billion, exceeding forecasts of $64.57 billion. The firm's return on equity was recorded at 34.56% with a net margin of 35.61%, marking a 16.0% revenue increase compared to the previous financial year.

Dividend Announcements and Share Buyback Program

Additionally, Microsoft recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, payable on March 13th to registered shareholders as of February 20th. This translates to an annual dividend of $3.32, reflecting a yield of 0.74%. The company's payout ratio is noted at 27.39%. In a separate announcement, Microsoft revealed that its board has sanctioned a substantial share repurchase program allowing up to $60.00 billion in share buybacks. This program indicates management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued, with the potential for repurchasing approximately 1.9% of its shares through market purchases.

About Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation is engaged globally in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. The Productivity and Business Processes segment features tools such as Microsoft Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365, along with office consumer services like Microsoft 365 subscriptions and licensed Office applications.

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