Shaker Investments LLC OH Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Shaker Investments LLC OH lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,798 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Shaker Investments LLC OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Shaker Investments LLC OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $420.69 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $418.77 and its 200 day moving average is $425.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $311.21 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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. The company 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. 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 0.79%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.