4,132 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bought by Elser Financial Planning Inc

Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,132 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,000. Microsoft makes up 0.3% of Elser Financial Planning Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 6,448 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $852,000. Fountainhead AM LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,065,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,313,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 113,964 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,899,000 after acquiring an additional 9,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $420.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.33.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.