Keynote Financial Services LLC Has $4.82 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,778 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of Keynote Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rebalance LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 6,397 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $428.02 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $419.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

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.