Sterneck Capital Management LLC Buys 755 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sterneck Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,574 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.0% of Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% in 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 shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $362.90 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $422.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.13.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.75%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.