Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 120,750 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,233 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.9% of PFG Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $53,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $232,000. Fox Hill Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 41,637 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,610,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 120,943 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,055,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,002,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 46,990 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,003,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. 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 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $424.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $420.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $326.94 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

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

Microsoft 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.