MN Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MN Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,454 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 236 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.2% of MN Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. MN Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $5,587,119,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $432.11 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $420.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.67. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 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 business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,784,292.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

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.