Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.8% of Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $324.39 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $419.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. 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.