Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,931 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 966 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.8% of Foster & Motley Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 53,462 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,895,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 62.7% in the second quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 3,930 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% in the second quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,833 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,395,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. This represents 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 ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $419.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.49. 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 12 month low of $324.39 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in 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 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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Argus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.68.

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.