Levy Wealth Management Group LLC Purchases 41 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Levy Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,965 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.4% of Levy Wealth Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. EWA LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 357.9% during the 4th quarter. EWA LLC now owns 10,252 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,216,000 after buying an additional 8,013 shares during the period. Israel Discount Bank of New York grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Israel Discount Bank of New York now owns 8,265 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Orca Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 32,921 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,380,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 148,535 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $55,855,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 783 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 valued at $77,916,485 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $428.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $419.51 and a 200-day moving average of $425.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 28.74%.

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

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.