Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 53,493 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.3% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $435.27 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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’s 50 day moving average is $420.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.