Apella Capital LLC Has $32.39 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 41.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,486 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,602 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of Apella Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Microsoft by 6.8% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,749,526 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,229,050,000 after purchasing an additional 174,688 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 216,019 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $96,550,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Money Management LLC now owns 13,475 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,154,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 8,799 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,933,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 28.1% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 106,304 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,513,000 after buying an additional 23,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $433.71 and its 200-day moving average is $422.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,964 shares of company stock worth $6,245,404. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile

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.