Guidance Point Advisors LLC Has $1.92 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Guidance Point Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,286 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 651 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.6% of Guidance Point Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Guidance Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,851,000. Brady Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 45,141 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,389,541 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $898,563,000 after purchasing an additional 237,986 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $416.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $418.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $314.90 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.