Stonekeep Investments LLC Buys 297 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stonekeep Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,701 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Stonekeep Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Stonekeep Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.7% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 1,381,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $594,467,000 after buying an additional 49,149 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 16,915 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 8,006 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,445,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.0% in the third quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 3,168 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bright Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 12.9% in the third quarter. Bright Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 956 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.46 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $362.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $420.84 and a 200 day moving average of $426.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction 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. This represents 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 sold 209,431 shares of company stock valued at $85,796,688. Corporate 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.