Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Brendel Financial Advisors LLC

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,964 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.9% of Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $846,072,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $427.99 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $362.90 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $421.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

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.