Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 605 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 6,448 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $852,000. Fountainhead AM LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,313,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 113,964 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,899,000 after buying an additional 9,529 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft 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.