TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC Invests $1.90 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,424 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,904,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 9,930 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,438,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.1% during the second quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 9,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,893,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 47,998 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,453,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $426.31 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $384.81 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $429.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

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.