Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC Acquires 90 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,097 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.2% of Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneva Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the second quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 25,679 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in Microsoft by 37.3% during the second quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 19,495 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,713,000 after buying an additional 5,294 shares during the period. Finally, Randolph Co Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Randolph Co Inc now owns 85,724 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,314,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.27 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $420.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.33. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.