Helen Stephens Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Helen Stephens Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,789 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.7% of Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RDA Financial Network grew its position in Microsoft by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 24,777 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,074,000 after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,576 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 7,803 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 19,014 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,865,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,750 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Macquarie boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction 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 approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $413.12 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $432.99 and a 200-day moving average of $422.74. 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 company has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

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.