Omega Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Omega Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,632 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Omega Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after buying an additional 5,150,160 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $430.25 and a 200-day moving average of $423.01. 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 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. 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 is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.