Financial Symmetry Inc Has $859,000 Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Symmetry Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,922 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.7% of Financial Symmetry Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Financial Symmetry Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Praetorian Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $328,000. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 41.3% during the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 70,486 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,391,000 after acquiring an additional 20,602 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Microsoft by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,749,526 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,229,050,000 after purchasing an additional 174,688 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 216,019 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $96,550,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Money Management LLC now owns 13,475 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,154,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,964 shares of company stock valued at $6,245,404 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $433.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.