Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 389 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $314.90 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $418.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 0.80%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.94.

Microsoft 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.