Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,307 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.3% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Defined Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 56,413 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,214,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 7,093 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,170,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 11,309 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 21,839 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,761,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.16 on Monday. 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 market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $419.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.54. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $324.39 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.74%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.68.

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.