Register Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,614 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Register Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Register Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Argus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted 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. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $417.14 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $431.08 and a 200 day moving average of $422.97. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.