Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Financial Advisory Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,301 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.2% of Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 75,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 44,665 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,796,000 after acquiring an additional 9,798 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 11,341 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,265,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 28,317 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,648,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $435.27 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.18.

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

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two 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.

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.