Archer Investment Corp Has $6.12 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,687 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.8% of Archer Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. now owns 10,460 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,401,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.7% in the first quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,290 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.1% in the first quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,168,000 after buying an additional 2,535 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,986,000. Finally, Advance Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,614 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,045,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $506.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.72 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $324.39 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $419.42 and its 200-day moving average is $424.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.