ACT Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ACT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,622 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.8% of ACT Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. ACT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.2% in the second quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,893,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% during the second quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors LLC ADV increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors LLC ADV now owns 808 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $754,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 70,691 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $417.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $431.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 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 analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 0.72%. 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.