Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Has $20.07 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,897 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.9% of Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sonata Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% in the second quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc. now owns 32,544 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 209,104 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $93,459,000 after purchasing an additional 12,221 shares during the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 11,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IRON Financial LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 7,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

MSFT opened at $416.06 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $314.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $418.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.03. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 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.