Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Legacy Advisors LLC

Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 53,310 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of Legacy Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,307,487 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $550,086,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 296.7% in the 1st quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Finally, United Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,538,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.84 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $324.39 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $417.79 and a 200-day moving average of $424.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.