Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,048 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,773 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% in the second quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $422.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.03.

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.