Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Farrell Financial LLC

Farrell Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,178 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.8% of Farrell Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Farrell Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC now owns 10,515 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 114,754 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,152,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 498,480 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $187,448,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Financial Services LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 7,991 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $432.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $420.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.67. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.