Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,369 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8 %

MSFT opened at $435.27 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.33. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.