Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,799 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.4% of Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $410.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $433.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.83. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,964 shares of company stock worth $6,245,404 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is 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.